Total Drama Space
by Roger Johnson
Summary: Fifteen contestants are being pushed to their limits in a Total Drama Arena where no one can hear them scream. With challenges such as a simulation of the end of the world, a battle with a space monster, and a treasure hunt for extra-terristrial life forms, the contestants will be lucky to survive, let alone win a million dollars...
1. Meet the Campers PART ONE

Author's Note: Thanks so much to everyone who submitted a character! I hope you're all as ready to dive into this story as I am! I don't know how long to expect chapters to be, unfortunately, but this one ended up being so long I decided to split it into two parts. So if you're character isn't introduced in this part, don't worry! They'll be coming next chapter! Please leave reviews to tell me if the story is good or bad and if there's anything you think I should change or fix, because it's my first time writing a fic like this! Thanks for reading, xox - Roger

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Instead of waiting at the end of a dock for the contestants to arrive, the way Chris McLean has done for countless past seasons, he stands in the middle of the tarmac of an airport. The concrete stretches like a field around him, the hot noon sun causing the surface to appear hazy and wobbly. Despite the heat, Chris is grinning when the camera zooms in on his face.

"I hope all you viewers out there are ready for something completely different from anything we've ever done," he says cheerfully, without preamble. "'Cause this season is gonna be packed with challenges, adventure, and - of course - drama unlike anything you've ever seen on TV ever before!" He spreads his hands excitedly and the camera zooms out slightly. "We're about to launch off on the most thrilling, action-packed season of Total Drama yet. Are you ready out there? I sure am! It's time for... Total!" The camera zooms out more as he shouts each word: "Drama!" At this point a launch bay with a rocket ship docked can be seen in the background. "Space!"

The camera zooms out and keeps zooming out, Chris's voice echoing in the background as the town turns into nothing but a jumbled mess of dots, and then becomes obscured by cloud. The camera keeps zooming out until the whole Earth can be seen, surrounded by a sea of stars. The logo flashes brightly across TV screens all around the world.

Instead of playing the opening credits, the cameras return to Chris McLean's face, still standing in the same place. He winked at the audience, saying, "What's the use in showing you the clips from the season when you haven't even met any of the campers yet? This year we're going straight to the introductions - and it looks like our first contestant is coming right at this minute!"

Sure enough, a car was racing up a side road toward the square of concrete Chris was standing on. It was a non-descript black SUV with tinted windows. Other than the wind blowing the grass that grew beyond the pavement and the heat mirages squiggling above the surface of the asphalt, the car was the only thing moving as far as the camera could see.

When the SUV got to the place where Chris was, the door opened and a boy and his luggage were quickly thrown out. The car barely even paused before speeding off, back away down the road. The boy who has been rudely ejected scrambled to his feet, calling out after the car.

"Wait! You never said if you were going to tell Allison I love her!" The boy looked heartbroken at the rejection. "How will she know I love her if no one will tell her for me?" He asked no one in particular. Chris cleared his throat and the boy turned to face the camera for the first time. He was tall and he had brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a graphic t-shirt that had the face of a wolf howling on it and he was wearing khaki shorts with it. On his feet were comfortable Billabong flip-flops. He seemed surprised to see Chris there.

Chris looked him over once, and said "Welcome to Total Drama Space, Scott! You're the first one to arrive! How about giving a quick shout-out to someone back home while we've got a spare moment? Tell the audience something to remember you by!"

Scott looked at the camera Chris had pointed out to him with a look of perplexity on his face. "Can everyone in the world see me?" Scott asked, walking closer and closer to the camera until his face took up the whole lens. "I wanna say hi to my girlfriend Allison! I hope she's still my girlfriend! I've only been gone for an hour so far! I really miss you Allison, you're the best! I can't wait to see you again! I wish you were here with me! You're the best girlfriend a guy could ever want to have, and I love you so much and I really miss you, and -" Chris dragged Scott away from the camera by the collar of his shirt.

"Wow, okay, I think Allison gets the point, Scott. Ans look at that, our next camper has arrived!" Another SUV had pulled up while Scott had been hogging the camera. As soon as Chris sees the silhouette leaving the van, he knows exactly who has arrived. "If it isn't Lilly and Luna Marks, Total Drama's new resident conjoined twins!"

The twins step off the step of the SUV and have their luggage thrown out unceremoniously in the same way Scott's had been. The second van speeds off into the distance without a second glance just like the one that came before it. The two-headed girls are an unusual spectacle for most of the audience watching. There are very few known cases of non-separated conjoined twins even in this day and age - less than twenty are known. The girls are smiling happily, however, and are obviously ready to face new and exciting challenges, since they've signed up for the contest.

Scott is not quick enough on the uptake to assimilate the fact that he's looking at two girls who happen to occupy the same body. "Why are you two sharing a sweater?" Scott asked, genuinely confused. Lilly bursts out laughing, and although Luna blushes shyly, it's clear she finds Scott's cluelessness funny, too.

"We aren't sharing a sweater," Lilly explains patiently, as if she's used to answering this kind of questions - and she probably is, although the people who ask them are probably usually about seven years old. "We're sharing a body. It's the way we were born." Scott makes a face, clearly thinking the matter over very hard.

"Doesn't that bother you?" He asks. It sounds like he's wondering why they don't just separate themselves.

Lilly rolls her eyes, but it isn't in a mean way. "We've had our whole lives to get used to it, so it doesn't bother us much anymore. Right, Luna?" Lilly knows that her sister doesn't like being forced into the spotlight like that, and blushes even more, but she nods earnestly in agreement anyway.

Another SUV pulls up, cutting off the conversation before Scott can make anymore "enlightened" comments - this is probably a stroke of luck for the twins.

Chris welcomes the new arrival with open arms. "Emma Sorenson!" He announces as a blonde girl's head pokes out the door of the car. She's about to step gracefully down from the step when a strong gust of wind blows in, tossing the girl's hair into her face. A muffled shout signals the girl's distress as her arms start windmilling. She promptly falls flat first into the concrete. The van driver thoughtfully tosses her bags out beside her and drives off. Chris, Scott, Lilly and Luna all watch in fascinated silence as the girl springs back up to her feet, insisting that she's okay. She tries to take a step forward to meet the other contestants, but she trips over the luggage at her feet and lands on her face again.

"Okay then," Chris says, shrugging at the camera. "Ladies and gentlemen, Emma Sorenson." The girl has gotten her foot tangled in one of the straps of her backpack and can't get back up to her feet. The camera slowly turns away from her, although the sounds of her struggle can still be heard in the background.

Another SUV is already on its way. It has barely come to a stop before the door is flying open and a girl comes flying out at full speed. She's bouncing up and down in excitement and she's already talking at a mile a minute. Her luggage seems to be chucked out of the car with a bit of extra speed, and the tires actually squeal against the asphalt as the driver hurries to get as far away from the hyperactive girl as possible.

"Oh my gosh, it's so freaking great to be here!" She gushes, clutching her hands to her chest. "I've wanted to be on Total Drama since I saw the first season when I was little! Hi Chris McLean! I love you! I'm your biggest fan! I'm so excited to be on TV! Hey world!" Much like Scott did, the girl crowds up to the camera so that everything is obscured by her face. She waves excitedly. "Hi world! I'm LoLo Alyak and I'm here to kick butt and win a million bucks! You'd better believe this is gonna be the best season of Total Drama ever, because I'm on it!"

The other contestants and Chris are all impressed that she can talk so much without pausing for breath. Chris grabs the back of her collar and drags LoLo back toward the other competitors like he had done with Scott. "Well, LoLo, I guess there's no need to introduce you, since you've already done that." The girl seems like she's a few seconds away from bursting with excitement, and she's clapping her hands gleefully.

"I'm so excited to get this season started! I can't wait! When do we get to start playing games and winning challenges? Come on, let's get started!"

She's abruptly cut off (to the relief of her fellow campers and, frankly, half of the Earth's population) when Emma manages to get up from where she had been lying, tangled with the luggage, only to hit LoLo in the face with a wayward hand. The hyper girl goes straight down.

Emma gasps and covers her mouth in complete shock and horror. "I can't believe I did that!" Emma says, looking around for some sort of direction. Nobody else seems what to do either, and Chris just shrugs.

"Another camper!" He announces cheerfully, choosing to ignore the downed contestant. He's pointing at the road, where yet another black car is heading toward them. Lilly, Luna and Scott are all looking eagerly at the car, waiting to see who will join them next, while Emma guiltily pats at LoLo's face, trying to wake her up again.

When the SUV stops, nothing happens. The door doesn't open. The driver signals to Chris and rolls down the window so they can talk. The campers can all hear Chris's side of the conversation. "Where is he? ... What do you mean he never showed up? ... So you have no idea where one of our contestants is? ... There's no back-up plan, we've never needed a back-up plan before..."

A huge amount of noise stops the conversation. For a minute everyone freezes in fear. It sounds like someone is dropping huge bombs somewhere in the near vicinity. Out of nowhere, a car burst into existence like it was coming through a giant wormhole tunnel. It skidded across the tarmac leaving fire burning in the wake of its tires. The doors of the car slid upwards in a futuristic way, and a boy tumbled out followed by his dog. "No, Einstein, get back in the car! I told you you weren't coming!" The boy said, trying to herd the dog back into its place. "Space is no place for a dog." With a whine the dog got back into the car. "Thanks for giving me a lift, Doc!" The boy said, waving as the futuristic car zoomed away again. The exploding sounds started again and the car disappeared back into a wormhole-like tunnel.

The campers and Chris all stood stunned. The SUV diver seized his chance to drive away. The boy had no luggage with him except his backpack and he was wearing an orange vest and glowing blue boots. "Hey, sorry I'm late!" He said, smirking like a cool kid. "The Doc and I had to go back in time!"

There was silence for a few minutes before Scott said. "Wow, you have a cool dog! I always wanted a dog but my mom said I was already too much work for her."

Everyone turned to stare at Scott, including the new guy. That's what Scott thought was interesting about what had just happened? Really?

Chris McLean resumed his hosting duties. "Ladies and gentlemen, Marty McFly! Welcome to Total Drama Space, Marty!"

The campers all greeted him politely, but they were mostly all still weirded out by his arrival. The only one who wasn't fazed by it was Scott, who was trying to get Marty to talk to him based on the fact that so far, they were the only two guys.

Chris was too busy looking at the horizon to pay attention to the campers, who were now talking among themselves. Mostly the girls and guys had separated, if only because Scott had sort of cornered Marty to ask inane and sometimes bafflingly stupid questions, like "what was the first fruit you ever ate? Mine was the blueberry, I used to eat blueberries all the time when I was a kid." Emma had managed to revive LoLo with the help of Lilly and Luna, but LoLo had missed out on Marty's spectacular arrival.

A new car was approaching, and by the time it had pulled to a stop everyone was looking forward to seeing what new, interesting person would pop out. It turned out to be another girl, who practically flew out of the vehicle in an impressive display of acrobatics. She performed a neat front hand spring and landed in a pose in the middle of the group of gathered campers. Most of them clapped politely, but Luna whispered to Lilly, "That wasn't really necessary, was it? There's no need to show off when we're not in a challenge, is there?" Her twin shrugs the shoulder she controls. Lilly has less of a problem with people with big egos than Luna does. Luna tends to be more sensitive in general.

Marty seems very interested in the new girl, to Scott's confusion and slight disappointment. Marty smiles at the newest arrival and tries to make small talk, but Scott bludgeons in and asks the girl, "Have you ever had to you use your skills to destroy an enemy?" The girl looks completely thrown off, staring at Scott and glancing at Marty, to see if there's some joke she's missing. Marty is just as baffled as she is, and tries to make it abundantly clear that he's not associated with Scott.

Chris taps the girl on the shoulder. "Come on, Ruby, I think the most distance you get from Scott the better - and that goes for everyone!" He laughs and turns Ruby toward the camera to introduce her properly to the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, Ruby Soma!"

Ruby decides to join the girls after her introduction, and Marty smacks the back of Scott's head. "You're scaring all the girls away from me!" He snapped admonishingly. Scott blinked at him, confused. "I was just trying to make conversation!" He says.

The next car to pull up contained another boy, to Marty's relief. Hopefully he could ditch Scott with the new guy and try to infiltrate the ranks of the girl campers. Chris introduced the new boy as Jericho, and said, in an ominous voice, "And try not to get on his bad side... He's been known to get a little mean!"

Jericho makes a face in protest. "Only to those who deserve it," he says, but he has a dangerous smirk on his mouth that makes the other campers feel sort of nervous. Again, Scott doesn't pick up on the social cue, and decides that Jericho ought to be on team boy, and welcomes him in by asking "Is that Eminem on your shirt?" The rapper on Jericho's shirt is Tupac.


	2. Meet the Campers PART TWO

When the show returns from a short commercial break, the campers are all milling around chatting to one another and a new van is making its way toward the group. Scott had decided that he and Jericho are going to be best friends, and Marty has snuck away to talk to the girls, who are keeping their distance.

"So your name is Jericho? Is that where Jesus lived?" Scott asks curiously. Jericho rolls his eyes, and tries to walk away from Scott. Luckily, before Scott has a chance to stop him, the van's door opens and the newest camper exits the vehicle, followed by their luggage. It's another guy.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our latest addition is Johnny Long!" The other campers welcome him appropriately, calling out greetings and a few trying to introduce themselves, although the likelihood of him being able to who's who from a jumble of distant introductions is unlikely. He smiles anyway, and finds himself quickly taken in by a friendly brown-haired boy. Obviously, it's Scott McCall. Jericho may not want to be his friend, but surely Johnny will.

"Hello Johnny, my name is Scott. My girlfriend is named Allison. You would love her. Everyone loves Allison, but I love her the most. Do you want to come to my house sometime to meet Allison? We could be best friends. I have a neighbour who is Asian like you, but she is always made at me! She once told my mom that I dug up her lawn, but it was not me! It was a dog. Why would I dig up a lawn?"

Johnny isn't sure how to respond to that. Nobody who has heard Scott's speech knows how to react. Several of the campers are staring open-mouthed at Scott. LoLo is not intimidated by Scott's level of weird, and decides to raise the bar.

"I have a neighbour who doesn't speak English and she always grows these weird plants on her windowsill. So one day I decided to figure out what it was by cutting off a leaf and taking it into the library to compare it to pictures in book. But as soon as I went near it she started screaming at me in another language, and I yelled back, like 'geez lady! I was just trying to look at your plant!' but she didn't understand what I was saying. So then I decided to show her by taking one of the leaves, but as soon as my hand went out toward the branch she started hitting me with her cane! She hit me right on the head! And then she chased me down the street and wouldn't leave me alone, so my mom called the police! And it took three officers to take that old whackjob down!"

Again, the campers are all silent, except Scott. "Wow, that's crazy! I can't believe she hit you with a stick! That's so unreasonable. One time I wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese but my mom said I was too old! So I snuck out of the house and rode my bike to the nearest one and I was at the arcade when I realised I didn't have any quarters! So I asked a little boy for some quarters so I could get tokens to play the games, but he wouldn't give me any! It was so rude. So I started shaking him and I yelled at him to stop being so rude and lend me some quarters, and he started to cry and his mom came running over. She said I was hurting him and she started screaming at me, and then she got the security guards! I was trying to explain to them but they wouldn't listen, and then they dragged me out of the Chuck E. Cheese! And there was a huge crowd watching and one guy recorded it on his phone and now it's on YouTube!"

LoLo is impressed. "Wow, you're on YouTube?" she asks, eyeing him with newfound respect. "I always wanted to have my own channel, but my parents won't buy me a camera. Maybe if I win I'll buy one. I bet your video has like a million views!"

The other campers silently hope that this is not the case. Chris had decided to tune the pair out a while ago, and is happily greeting the ninth camper. "Jamie Lee Locks," he announces as she steps out of the van. She's wearing all black and her style is completely goth. She smirks at Chris and says, "Hey Chris, what's going on?" She has a British accent, which draws the attention of the other campers.

"Wow, are you from England?" Emma asks, stepping forward. She twists her ankle and falls dramatically onto the pavement. Everyone ignores it, except for Jamie, who doesn't know any better yet.

"Whoa, are you alright?" She asks, rushing to Emma's side.

"Oh yeah, I'm peachy," the girl replies, tried to stand back up again. Jamie offers a hand, but ends up being pulled down, too.

"Wow, that's not cool!" Jamie says crossly, getting to her feet and wiping dirt off of her skirt. Emma tries to stutter out an apology, but Jamie walks away from her. Lily, Luna and Ruby exchange looks, and a decision is made without any of them saying anything. Lily and Luna follow Jamie, hoping to calm her down, while Ruby helps Emma get back on her feet and reassures her that it isn't her fault that Jamie fell.

Marty, who has been trying to get Ruby to talk to him, is cut off again by this interruption. He huffs slightly in irritation, but never one to be deterred, tries to get into the conversation between Ruby and Emma. Jericho, who has been more successful at engaging Emma in conversation (possibly because he hasn't been trying to tell the girls about his last trip into the future in his time machine, but that's just a theory) is quick to join Ruby in comforting the klutzy girl.

Scott continues to swap stories with LoLo, while Johnny, who feels like a third wheel but has no one else to talk to, becomes increasingly horrified by the things LoLo and Scott have done. "One time I swallowed a whole lemon because I was really hungry!" Scott says, and LoLo counters it by saying, "One time I built a raft out of cardboard boxes and out my baby sister on it, and let it float downstream! My mom was so mad! We never found her again!"

Amidst this chaos, another contestant arrives. "Emily Nelson," Chris greets, shaking her hand. Emily looks him in the eye defiantly, black hair swinging dramatically behind her, and says, "Nice to meet you, Chris Mc_Lame._" She winks at the camera, and slips away from Chris before he has time to respond. "Hey! That was rude!" He yells after her. She laughs, and looks around at her future competition.

"Hey," Johnny says, eager to find someone to talk to other than the two possible certifiably insane people who are currently arguing over who's been in the hospital more times. "I'm Johnny."

"I'm Emily," she replies, but she's eyeing him suspiciously. "Are you here to talk strategy?" She asks. Emily Nelson did not come on Total Drama to make friends. And where she's from, there are two things guys want from her: for her to work on their car with her dad, or… something much less G-rated. And there ain't no cars to be worked on here.

Johnny smiles at her, unaware of her suspicions. "You want to talk about strategy already? We just got here." He gestures to all the other teens gathered around the area. "Everyone else is just goofing around. I thought maybe we could get to know each other? Maybe we can be friends." He smiles at her welcomingly, but at the look on her face he cringes. She's scowling enough to make it clear that she isn't interested in just goofing around. "Okay, okay, so we can talk strategy. And maybe we can be allies." He sighs. Less than ten minutes into the game and he is already associating with the wrong people.

A van pulls up containing a short boy who looks shy, staring at the ever-growing crowd of teens with a small amount of trepidation. "Are you Leo Wolfheart?" Chris asks, eyeing the hat, gloves, and belt Leo is wearing. The gloves are shaped like paws, the belt has a fake wolf's tail hanging from it, and the hat gives Leo little wolf ears.

"You can call me Wolfie," Leo says, blushing at the attention. As Leo walks away to join the other campers, Chris mumbles, "No, I don't think I'll call you that."

When the other campers notice Leo, most of them stare at him. It's not often that you see a kid in high school playing dress-up, and that's what Leo's costume looks like to them.

Once again, it's Scott and his lack of knowledge of social cues that save the group from an uncomfortable silence. "Hey, you're a wolf, too!" Everyone is baffled by this, including Leo.

"I want to be a wolf. Can I be a wolf too?" LoLo asks. She seems to be getting along pretty well with Scott. Leo shyly walks over and joins them.

"Wow, we're a three-person wolf pack now!" Scott says happily, putting his arms around the other twos' shoulders. "Or should I say, a three-wolf pack. We are going to have so much fun! Let's hunt things and kill them and eat them raw!" Leo looks a little alarmed by this, but LoLo fist pumps enthusiastically and laughs, so he smiles and goes along with it. At least he's made some friends.

"You guys can call me Wolfie," he says quietly, and Scott and LoLo decide that they love the idea.

"Okay! Then you can call me Wolfette," LoLo says happily.

"And I'll be….uh…. I'll be Wolfmeister!" Scott announces. LoLo commences a tight group hug. They have officially become a pack.

Chris is watching them with a smile on his face. '_I can't wait to put one of them on the opposite team from the others!_' He thinks to himself.

When the twelfth SUV pulls up to the spot where Chris is standing, the door opens but no one comes out. At first Chris thinks that the driver couldn't find the contestant again, but the luggage comes out of the back seat like all the other times and the car drives away without the driver saying anything. Chris isn't sure what to do, because this is probably the weirdest thing he's ever seen happen. Luckily, after a moment the problem solves itself. A figure appears out of nowhere, stepping out of thin air as if there was an invisible curtain for him to hide behind. He is wearing a traditional ninja costume, and if the campers thought Leo was strange for wearing a little bit of wolf gear, they're going to think this guy is a loony. He bows to Chris.

"Okay, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that you're Hanzo Hattori, so… welcome to the show!" The ninja nods his head, and then hesitates for a moment as if he's waiting to see if Chris will say anything else. When he doesn't, the ninja pivots to the side and disappears again. "Wow, that's really freaky!" Chris says. He wonders if he should take extra precautions to keep all the doors locked.

Hanzo has appeared again in the middle ground between all the groups the campers have made. Ruby and Emma are the first to react.

"Whoa! A real ninja!" Ruby yells excitedly, and she and Emma both cling to each other like fangirls when the ninja turns to them. "Wow, are you from Japan and everything?" Ruby asks, in awe of Hanzo's robes and his mysterious demeanour. He looks at her for a moment and then nods slowly. "Wow, that's so cool! You can do acrobatics, right? Like backflips and front handsprings and stuff?" Again, the ninja slowly nods. "Me too! Wow, we should hang out and do gymnastics together! That would be so much fun."

It's really hard to tell what Hanzo is feeling because his face is covered, but the way he shakes his head slightly and takes a step backward shows that he's a little confused by the offer. He hastily makes a getaway, disappearing into thin air again, and Ruby frowns. "Where did he go?" She asks sadly.

Emma shrugs, making a face. "I guess you came on a little two strong," she says, and the two girls laugh.

While everyone was paying attention to the ninja, the newest girl had arrived. She soon caught everyone's attention. Her name is Scarlett Locksley, and her skin is white and translucent like tracing paper. Her hair can be passed off as white-blonde, but it also has a sort of translucent look to it that makes it seem a little grey. It makes her eyebrows and eyelashes look non-existant. Her eyes are brown, but the reflection of light off of her retina causes the colour to red. She has a look on her face and a spring in her step that says, "come on, I dare you to judge me." Jamie, who has been brooding apart from the other groups despite the gentle urgings of Lilly and Luna to rejoin the other girls, steps forward. "Finally, someone cool is here," she says. Lilly and Luna both gasp, clearly offended, but Jamie ignores them. The twins stomp off to re-join Ruby and Emma, and together the four of them glare at Jamie from afar.

Scarlett is looking at Jamie mistrustfully, as if she's waiting for the other shoe to drop. Obviously, this joke needs a punch line – nobody has ever thought Scarlett was cool before. They think she's weird or scary looking. But Jamie never follows her sentence up with anything mean. She comes closer to Scarlett, sizes her up. Scarlett can see that they share certain inclinations in fashion sense – they're both wearing their fair share of black and clothes from Hot Topic. But it isn't until Jamie smirks at Scarlett and says, "So, do you liked The Used?" that Scarlett actually smiles and decides that yeah, they're probably going to be friends.

The next van to pull up had a surprise for Chris and the other contestants. When the door opens, there is a moment's pause, and then out rolls a boy who's kicking his legs frantically. His arms are completely bound to his body by a strait jacket. Every camper, including Scott and LoLo, falls silent. The boy is making little noise and jerking back and forth. He's muttering to himself and occasionally he'll shout. The driver throws the boy's bags out of the vehicle after him and drives away without explaining anything.

Luckily, Chris seems to know what to do. He approaches the boy carefully, trying to scare him, and searches in the front pocket of his bag until he finds an orange-tinted prescription drug bottle. He takes a pill out and, after reading the instructions, uses one hand to hold the boy's mouth open and the other to put the pill in. The campers wait anxiously for the boy to return to normal. When Chris stands up, however, nothing has changed. He raises his eyebrows at the expectant campers. "Medicine doesn't work automatically, you know," he says blandly like he's seen this kind of thing a million times. "He'll be fine, we just have to wait for the sedative to calm him down a little." Chris wiped the dirt on his knees that had gathered when he'd crouched down to rifle through the boy's bag.

While everyone was staring at the newest arrival, waiting for him to get up and be okay, when the final contestant arrived. The campers couldn't help but find it anti-climactic, especially after the last exciting arrival, when the boy who stepped out of the van was a scrawny, nervous-looking kid with his backpack clutched to his bag. The last SUV actually started to drive away before the boy was even completely out of the vehicle. "Ack!" the boy shouted as he tumbled to the ground. Several sympathetic contestants moved forward to help him, including Emma. Ruby patted her arm.

"You know, sweetheart, you should probably let someone else help him," she said with a gentle smile. Emma started to protest, and then she thought for a moment. Then she started to giggle. You're right, I'd probably just make it worse."

Jericho joined the two girl in laughing. "You get points for trying to help, though. It's the thought that counts."

"Everyone, meet Henry," Chris says as Johnny helps Henry pick himself up off the ground. Henry brushes himself off sheepishly, and opens his mouth to say something, but is cut off.

"Hey, where am I?" shouts the boy in the strait jacket. Everyone promptly forgets the new boy and turns they're attention to the one struggling to sit up. Chris kneels back down beside him. "Fabrizio Anderson, meet your competition," Chris says, gesturing toward the fourteen other teens. "Are you feeling alright?" He asks, eyeing the strait jacket warily.

"What? Oh, I'm fine! I'm dandy! I feel great! I think I scared the driver of that car though! I just got so excited I forgot to take my medication today. And yesterday. And the day before that. Ooops! I promise to remember every day I'm in the competition. You don't have to send me home or to the hospital, because I'm fine! And I'm ready to get this competition started! Come on, Chris, we're holding up the show! … Can you let me out of this thing now?" He struggles slightly against the jacket again.

Chris looks at Fabrizio sceptically. There's sweat on his face and his pupils are completely dilated. But with his medication now safely metabolizing inside of himself, he shouldn't be in danger. And by danger, it's not for the others, it's for Fabrizio himself. He's much more likely to cause himself damage than anyone else when he's delirious, even if it's just scratching himself too hard or failing to recognize that he's in pain and accidentally causing serious nerve damage. After a moment of hesitation, Christ undoes the ties at the back of the jacket. Fabrizio gratefull stretches out his arms and his back. Then he turns to his competition. Each teen is staring at Fabrizio with a sense of foreboding – he has made a very good first impression. Almost every teen, that is.

"So, your mom made you pack a jacket, too? Mine was worried it would be cold in the endless cosmos."

Author's Note: A few things to say! First off, thanks for reading! 3 Second, I am really enjoying Scott McCall has a character, haha. He's fun. Third, next chapter will be the first challenge! So I think you should all leave review telling me who should get voted off first, or else I'll have no idea! And I might accidentally send home your favourite character! So let me know. I will try my best to have the next update up quicker. I started a new job this week though so I was pretty busy! (sorry for having such a long author's note I can't stop talking)

Finally: A schizophrenic episode like Fabrizio's is actually considered a medical emergency, and would be treated by a doctor in real life, with constant supervision by a medical professional for the duration of the episode. It isn't funny in real life, but I've taken a few liberties. :3 if you want to learn more about schizophrenia Google is always there. For reference to medication, I read this article: ..pdf I'd like to take this moment to say that I don't condone making fun of serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia. I hope to demonstrate in my story that although Fabrizio suffers from this serious condition, it doesn't define him. The same goes for any of the other characters who have any kind of "disability."


	3. The First Challenges

Author's Note: As requested, a reward challenge to let you get to know the contestants a little better! More notes after the chapter.

With all of the contestants arrived and assembled, Chris is ready to get a move on. He takes advantage of the awkward silence that follows Scott's question and clears his throat loudly. "Okay, campers! Follow me to the first challenge!"

It sounds straight forward enough, but at that moment Chef pulls up in a golf cart. Chris hops on board and the two of them speed off across the asphalt, leaving the teens confused in their wake. Hanzo is the first person to react to the abrupt departure of the host, and silently takes off in a run. He covers ground quickly, but the other contestants are not willing to be out-performed. Ruby Soma is in great shape and runs almost as quickly as Hanzo. The other contestants run in a pretty much equally matched pack, although Henry the scrawny bookworm is slower and less in shape than the others, and Emma immediately trips over an untied shoe lace, falling behind.

Chris's golf cart stops next to the building beside the launch pad. By the time the contestants catch up to him they are all panting and sweating. Without waiting for the two stragglers to rejoin the group, Chris throws open the doors of the facility with a flourish and Chef steps forward to talk to the contestants.

"I have prepared for you all a big meal. Y'all need to regain your strength after that run." He smiles a disarming grin, which makes all the contestants feel uneasy. They walk into a room with a huge dining table that's set with huge amounts of food. "Help yourselves, children."

The campers all talk seats, most having already chosen a few friends to sit with. Jericho and Emma sit together, Ruby sits next to Emma and Marty sits next to her. Scarlett and Jaime sit together, while Lilly and Luna sit on the other side of Jericho. LoLo, Scott and Leo sit together. Hanzo sits cross-legged in his chair at the head of the table. Henry cautiously takes a seat next to Johnny, who is sitting with Emily.

Chris steps up to the opposite end of the table from Hanzo and addresses the contestants once more. "As you may know, things never come at face value on Total Drama! So this isn't just an all-you-can-eat buffet, it's an all-you-can-eat _challenge_! Whoever eats the most food gets an advantage in the next contest!" Chris and Chef exchange evil grins. "Now start eating, campers!"

Although many of the campers are worried that the food has been poisoned, because nothing good can ever come of Chris and Chef teaming up together, when interns scurry over and reveal the first course, they all dig in. The food isn't gross or anything, like it has been in previous Total Drama challenges. It's a perfectly normal meal starting with a soup, and then an appetizer, followed by an entrée and then finished with several desserts. In fact, the food is so good that most of the campers eat seconds when they're offered without hesistating. This means that they're already full by the third course.

The first person to drop out is Henry, who is too skinny to store all the food. However, LoLo and Fabrizio aren't far behind him, and they all laugh about it together. They sit together on the loser's bench away from the food, watching the other contestants.

Halfway through the entrée Emma and Emily both give up, stuffed to the extreme. Leo and Marty McFly aren't able to finish their steaks and join the other losers on the bench. Ruby, Hanzo, Jericho, Scott, Johnny and Jamie are still going strong. Scarlett and Lily and Luna both quit after the first dessert. Johnny laughs while he finishes his second dessert, a small strawberry shortcake. "I eat a whole bunch while I'm cooking, so I'm used to eating a ton of food!"

"My mom always says I eat too much," Scott says. "Luckily, Allison is always willing to cook for me! She's the best girlfriend in the world."

Hanzo doesn't say anything. He eats silently. He eats so fast that no one actually sees the food go into his mouth. It just disappears from the plate and his mask moves slightly as he chews. Chef watches him closely to make sure he doesn't cheat, but the ninja follows a code of honour that prevents him from breaking the rules or conducting himself without dignity.

Ruby has started to get competitive and is leaned over her plate with her eyes narrowed, smirking slightly in challenge as her gaze darts from one opponent to the next.

"Man, this food tastes awesome, Chef," Jericho says happily. He's eating a chocolate cupcake, the third dessert. "I could do this all day."

Jamie is the largest girl there, height-wise, so she has a little more room than the other girls in her stomach. She's never been very happy about that before, but it's an advantage here. Unfortunately, she isn't used to eating huge amounts in one sitting, and she's starting to slow down in eating. Still, she's not gonna go out without bluffing a little. "Yeah, I could do this all day too. Easy as… _pie!_" She says, cackling as a piece of pie is placed in front of her.

Tension is high as the remaining contestants struggle with their extra-large helping of pie with ice cream, and Jamie, Scott and Johnny are all eliminated. Hanzo, Ruby and Jericho are the only ones left. It's hard to tell if Hanzo is starting to feel the fullness, but Ruby's smirk has slipped into a bit of a frown. Her stomach is really full, okay, and self-discipline isn't enough to keep her going… especially when she sees the next course. It's a huge double chocolate cake. And the three remaining contestants each get a whole one to themselves. One whiff of the fudge frosting and Ruby's backing away from the table. "Ugh, I think I'm gonna puke," she says. Emma rushes to her side.

"I can hold your hair back, if you want," She says with a cheerful smile. Ruby laughs.

"I think I'll be alright… as long as I never have to eat another dessert again in my whole life!"

Hanzo and Jericho have started to eat their cakes in complete silence. It's barely noticeable, but Hanzo's fork has started to slow down. A bead of sweat drips down Jericho's forehead. For five minutes the two competitors keep eating. Then, to everyone's surprise, Hanzo stands up from his chair. He bows to Jericho and says, "I humbly resign the challenge. You are a greater eater than I."

The contestants all clap for Jericho, who flops back in his chair. Chris and Chef join in on the applause.

"Nicely done, Jericho!" Chris says, clapping him on the back. "Time for the next challenge! Everyone follow me and Chef into the next room!"

The contestants groan. Another challenge right away? Jericho hauls himself out of his chair and thinks for a minute that he might puke. Emma sees the sick look on his face and smiles at him softly. "I could hold your hair back, too," she jokes. Jericho laughs and straightens out.

"Nah, I can handle this," he says, putting on a brave face and puffing out his chest. They all follow Chris into the next room. There are a bunch of weird-looking machines there, fifteen of them, one for each camper.

"Oh no," Emily whispers in horror as she realises what the machines are. "Those are G machines… human centrifuges…" Chris cackles gleefully as the others turn to Emily, still confused. "They're the spinny things astronauts have to go in before they go into space! To see if they can handle the gravitational forces that occur when leaving or entering Earth's atmosphere… I saw one in a museum once… Chris, you can't make us go in those! The government retired them! The New York Times called them torture devices! You can't make us… especially after we just ate!"

The rest of the campers all groan in horror as they picture themselves having to ride in one. Chris is smiling and bouncing around happily. "I can _so_ make you guys ride these things! They're not as fast as the actual things… but this is all part of your astronaut training! The last one who's still spinning without puking wins the reward challenge! Everyone choose a machine!"

With a lot of grumbling unhappily, the campers each choose a machine. "Wait," Jericho says to Chris. Don't I get an advantage for being the last one left eating?" Chris and Chef both burst out laughing.

"Yeah… I lied about that to make you guys stuff yourselves!" Chris laughs maniacally. "Now everyone get into your machines!"

They all get in, because they all want the reward. They know Chris could be lying to them, but if they weren't all risk-takers, they wouldn't have signed up for Total Drama.

When everyone is safely buckled in, Chris flips the switch and everyone starts spinning. To nobody's surprise, Ruby, Hanzo and Jericho are the first ones to press the automatic big red stop button. They all stumble out of their machines and Jericho and Ruby both vomit dessert all over the floor. Hanzo disappears from sight the minute he exits his machine. Everyone assumes he needs to vomit, too, he's just embarrassed to have his cool ninja façade disrupted like that.

Many of the other campers are screaming at the speed of the ride, which spins them so fast their faces start to flap around. Nobody lasts very long, and within a minute of the challenge everyone except Henry, LoLo and Marty are left in their machines. Several new puddles of puke have joined the previous two on the floor.

"This challenge was low, even for you, Chris Mc_Lame_," Emily says with her hands on her hips.

"Yeah," Jericho says angrily, "I can't believe you lied to me!"

Chris puts his hands up in supplication. "No worries, Jericho, your victory in the first challenge won't go unnoticed. You'll get a reward."

"Good," Jericho says crossly. In the meantime, LoLo is screaming… but she's having fun, instead of being very upset by the fact that she's flying through the air at like 80 kilometres per hour. Henry is holding on to the safety bar with a look of grim determination on his face, and Marty is starting to look green. After a few minutes, both Marty and LoLo give up. Henry the bookworm wins the first official challenge of Total Drama Space to the surprise of everyone. He's barely even talked to anyone yet. Also, he doesn't look much like a champion. When Chris pulls him out of his machine and pulls his hand up to show that he's the winner, Henry leans down and pukes on Chris's shoes. "Oh, dude, gross!" Chris yells as all the contestants howl with laughter.

"You're pretty cool, Henry," Jericho says, giving Henry a high five. Everyone pats him on the back and congratulates him. No hard feelings for someone who puts Chris in his place like that!

Chef takes over after Chris flees the room to clean off his shoes and pants. "Alright, children, here's how it's gonna go: We are now going to board the spaceship C.S.S. Wawanakwa. When we board the ship, we will find two sleeping quarters, one for girls and one for boys. There will also be one V.I.P. cabin… which now belongs to our two winners of today's challenges, Jericho and Henry!"

"Aw man," Jamie says, scowling. "The V.I.P. cabin totally shoulda been mine." Several of the other contestants echo that sentiment. Henry and Jericho high five each other again.

"You maggots better get your beauty sleep," Chef warned. "You never know what Chris has got planned for tomorrow!" He laughed as he led the campers to their cabins, and then left them to get ready for bed on their own.

Author's Note 2: Okay, so. Next chapter is definitely going to be an elimination challenge! And the campers are going to get sorted into their teams. So leave a review saying who you want to be eliminated! And if you think I'm giving one camper too much/not enough attention, feel free to let me know. I'm trying to be as fair with screentime as possible! I've got a basic idea of what the challenges will be, who will be on what team, and what the possible future relationships will be (which depends on who gets eliminated, of course). But if you have a suggestion, I'm totally open to hearing it. And do you guys want me to write out the credits sequence? I omitted it because I thought it might be sort of tacky, but I have an idea of how it goes if you guys are interested Let me know!


	4. Chris McLean Destroys the Earth part 1

The theme song plays, the same that has played since the very first season. The logo is displayed amidst the stars in the night sky. The image is interrupted by LoLo in a spacesuit, who is floating away slowly and flailing wildly with her arms, looking panicked. Scott and Leo, also in spacesuits, but with their safety ropes still in place and attached to the spaceship, are swimming through the zero-gravity air as they desperately try to catch her.

The camera follows the safety rope to a window in the ship. It shows a room where Hanzo and Ruby are both doing meditative exercises, only to be interrupted by Marty chasing Fabrizio through the room. The camera follows the chase which leads the pair into the mess hall, where Scarlett and Jamie are flinging spoonfuls of mushy food at Lily, Luna and Emma. Jericho uses a lunch tray to protect the girls from the projectiles, and then pulls out two little dolls of Scarlett and Jamie out of his pocket along with several pins. Jamie throws another handful of food but it misses its target and flies through an open door into a kitchen, where Johnny and Chef are cooking. Johnny sees the food and ducks but it hits Chef right in the face.

Johnny runs away from the angry chef, who has picked up his cleaver, and goes through a back door into a practise battle room where Emily is kicking robots in the head. On the bench on the side of the room, Henry cheers her on with a book in his hand.

Then the camera shows all of the contestants sitting on fake tree stumps in an air lock, with Chris holding a judge's gavel at a podium in the middle. Chef is still looking really angry in the background, polishing his cleaver with a rag. Emma smiles at Jericho and takes his hand. Ruby tries to hug Hanzo, who promptly vanishes in a puff of air. Marty tries to put his hand on Ruby's shoulder comfortingly, but she jumps over to another chair beside Lily and Luna, and they all laugh together. Emily punches Johnny in the arm, and he gets pushed backward right into Henry. Fabrizio is in a strait jacket and tries to help Henry out by picking up the book he dropped with his mouth.

Jamie taps Marty on the shoulder and leans in to kiss him, but before their lips touch Scarlett taps Marty on the shoulder. When he turns around she dumps a bowl of green Jell-O on his head. Then Jamie and Scarlett fall over laughing together. Leo, Scott and LoLo all howl. The screen fades to black.

* * *

At the beginning of the second episode, all the campers are sleeping in their bunk beds. In the girls' cabin, Emma and Lily and Luna are sharing one bed, with Emma on the top bunk, Ruby and LoLo are sharing a bed with Ruby on the top bunk, Scarlett and Jamie are sharing a bunk bed on the other side of the room from all the other girls, with Jamie on the top bunk, and Emily is sharing a bed with Fabrizio with Emily on the top bed. Fabrizio is sleeping in the girls' room because Marty refused to share a room with a gay person.

In the boys' cabin, Scott and Leo are sharing a bunk bed with Leo on the top bed; Johnny and Hanzo are sharing a bunk bed with Hanzo on the top bed, and Marty is sleeping alone in his bed. He chose the top bunk anyway.

In the VIP cabin, Henry and Jericho have their own king-sized beds on opposite ends of the room. Henry's bed is covered in books. Almost everything in his suitcase was a book, except for a few pieces of clothing and his toothbrush. Jericho is snoring loudly.

Chris wakes the campers up with an announcement that they can hear through speakers on the roof of each cabin. First a trumpet sounds although the person who plays the instrument doesn't seem to know what he or she is doing, because it sounds awful. "Rise and shine, campers!" Chris shouts cheerfully even though it's only about 5 a.m. "It's the first elimination challenge today, so hurry to the mess hall to get some breakfast or you might be too late!"

Grumbling, the campers all get up and get ready for the day. The way the spaceship is built, the cabins are on the right side of the ship, the mess hall is in the middle, and on the left side of the ship there is an observation deck and a simulation room where robots can be programmed for training exercises or holograms can appear to make any sort of situation appear, from an old western town to a futuristic city. Chris and Chef's rooms are in front of the mess hall near the bridge or control room of the ship. The interns live inside the vents of the ship.

Chef is his usual grumpy self as he squeezes tubes of astronaut food onto the campers' plates as each one approaches the window. "Wow Chef, you didn't even make this food yourself!" Johnny says as he looks down at the food on his plate. "Do you need help cooking? Is that why you're giving us pre-made food?"

Chef growls threateningly, and Johnny jumps back a little bit. "I do not need help, ya ungrateful maggot! I'm giving you runts food to match the theme of the whole show!"

Johnny puts up his hands placatingly. "I didn't mean to offend you, Chef, I just want to help you out in the kitchen! I love to cook!"

Chef doesn't look pleased. He continues on with his task of serving the campers, turning to squeeze a tube of "breakfast medley" into Scarlett's plate. Jamie's right behind her. They laugh. "If you want to hang out with Chef, you're probably crazier than the guy in the strait jacket," Scarlett says. The two girls go to sit together at one of the tables. Johnny scowls at them, but doesn't respond. He goes to take a seat in between Emily and Henry, who've already been served.

Just as all the campers sit down at the tables and begin to think about eating their gross, mushy food, Chris bursts into the room excitedly. "Who's ready for a challenge?" He shouts, and the only people who respond are LoLo and Scott, who cheer excitedly. Everyone else looks either scared, nervous or bored. "Wow, it's great to have so many enthusiastic campers!" A few people glance around, trying to figure out if he's being sarcastic or not. "Let me explain to you how the today's challenge is going to go while you eat the delicious meal Chef lovingly prepared for each and every one of you." A few people snort at that, but an angry grumble from Chef shuts them up and causes everyone to nod their heads in agreement with Chris's statement. "Now, you may or may not have had time to explore the ship up to this point. If you have done some exploring, I'm sure you've noticed that there's a big simulation room on the port side of the ship. Port means left. Your cabins are on the right, or starboard side. Our challenge today is going to take place in the simulation room. If you want to find out more about the challenge, meet me there in… ten seconds!"

Chris ran out of the room cackling. The contestants all groaned and got out of their chairs. Most of them had barely eaten any of the gross astronaut food. After sprinting the hundred or so meters from the meal hall to the simulation deck, most of them were panting. Chris laughed at them all. "I didn't mean literally ten seconds," he said with an evil smile. He opened the door to the simulation room and led everybody in. The campers gasped as they looked around them and saw that the area being simulated was a huge city. There were skyscrapers that were obviously way taller than there was room on the spaceship for, and the streets and buildings seemed to stretch out for miles, even though the room couldn't have been as big as it looked. Chris smiled benignly at the campers, which immediately set them on edge. "All you have to do… is get from this end of the city to the next."

"That's all?" Jamie asked skeptically. "Isn't a challenge supposed to be… challenging?" Chris laughed in response, and it felt as if a cold breeze had just crept up each of the campers' spines. They felt a strange sense of foreboding.

"You'll find out what the challenge is." Chris replied. He got into a car that the simulator had placed nearby. He turned the key and started the engine.

"Wait!" Leo cried out, before Chris could drive away. "Shouldn't we be on different teams or something?"

Chris smiled. "All in due time, wolf boy. See you all on the other side!" He laughed again, with the strange terrifying effect. The campers all watched him drive away.

For a moment, nobody moved. The door to the simulation room slammed shut behind them, and then disappeared into more city landscape. "This is insane," Lilly said. Luna nodded in agreement.

Jamie grabbed Scarlett's hand and effectively broke the shared paralysis that had gripped the group. "Come on," Jamie said. "We're gonna win this." The two girls ran off into the streets. The rest of the campers all followed, breaking off into groups. The biggest one surrounded Emma, Ruby, Lilly and Luna. Marty wanted to go along with Ruby, Jericho wanted to go along with Emma, and so they all ended up moving together as they ran forward toward hopeful victory. Hanzo set off on his own, and was last seen by the other campers when he climbed a lamppost and jumped onto the roof of a nearby building.

"I'm gonna steal a car!" LoLo shouted excitedly. Leo and Scott followed her toward the silver sedan she'd chosen to take. "My brother, who goes to prison a lot, taught me how to hotwire one of these babies," she told the boys excitedly. The car started successfully, to everyone's surprise. Not surprisingly at all, LoLo was a terrible driver and immediately almost drove into the side of a building. Soon they had taken a turn and were out of sight. That left Johnny, Henry, Emily and Fabrizio. Fabric felt like the odd man out, having not really made any friends yet. He had stuck close to his bunk-mate, hoping that she would accept him into the little group formed with her, the chef-in-training and the bookworm. They were an unlikely bunch of allies, but they just looked at each other and nodded before running forward, the last four to leave the beginning area.

Almost as soon as they left the vicinity of the door, there was a huge booming sound like a roll of very loud, very close thunder. And then a flaming meteoroid came flying out of the sky and demolished the building in front of them.

After that, it was only a few moments before the sky was suddenly coloured orange and red instead of blue, and there were meteoroids falling like very big, very deadly hail all around them.

"Your challenge," Chris's voice seemed to come from out of nowhere, but each of the contestants could hear it no matter where they were in the city. "Is to survive this little simulation I've made… of the end of the world!" His cackling filled the air around them, barely audible over the noise of buildings crumbling beneath the force of meteoroids and falling debris.

"This is so insane," Emily shouted, as the lamppost they had seen Hanzo climbed crashed into the street directly in front of them.

"It's not safe on the street," Johnny shouted back, trying to make his companions hear him over the noise of the end of the world. "We need to get somewhere safe…" He trailed off, looking around desperate for a safer place.

"There!" Fabrizio shouted, pointing at the entrance to a subway tunnel. The four of them ran as fast as they could to the stairs and ran underground, hoping to avoid being crushed by a flaming rock.

"I hope the structural integrity of the tunnels holds up under the onslaught of pressure above ground," Henry said, his voice shaking with nervousness. The other three nodded silently, and they started to walk together in the general direction they had seen Chris go in.

* * *

Meanwhile, the large group was trying to deal with the end of the world in their own way. The size of their group made communication difficult, and it didn't help that Emma was clutching her head and screaming in terror, or that Marty had decided that running for shelter was the best course of action. The others tried to follow him, but they were assailed by an increased shower of smaller but more frequent meteorites. Jericho was attempting to keep everyone together, a self-appointed protector, and if there were fewer rocks falling on them you can bet that there would have been more than one challenger to this perpetuation of patriarchy within their splinter group. As it is, the girls are too busy trying to keep themselves alive to give Jericho a lecture on how they can take care of themselves, really, they don't need a man to try and rescue them.

When they catch up to Marty, he's standing in a doorway. "Doorways are the sturdiest part of the building. I saw that in a movie that takes place in California. They stand in doorways during earthquakes, because the building won't crush them that way." His voice is high-pitched and his eyes are wide. He looks close to panicking. Emma is in the same boat. She's stopped yelling, but she panting and there's dirt smudged on her face that makes her look like a crazy homeless person.

Ruby takes charge. "Look, guys, this is just a simulation. Obviously, even if we 'die'" – she uses air quotes for emphasis – "in the challenge, we're going to be fine in the real world. We'll just have lost the challenge. So try to keep yourselves together, ok?" She doesn't just look at Marty and Emma, she looks at everyone. "It seems scary, but we're going to make it through. And if we do, we're going to win the challenge. So let's do our best to survive this thing, okay?"

The group nods reluctantly. Jericho stands up to make a speech too, but a meteoroid hits the building they're standing in and sends the top three floors down around them. Emma starts screaming again, and Marty joins her. The thing is, the way the rubble sends up a huge blast of air and dust as it falls feels _very real_. And the contestants aren't sure they wouldn't put it past Chris to kill them while they're drifting in space thousands of miles away from the nearest police station.

"We need to get moving!" Ruby yells over her friends' screaming. "Everybody hold hands so no one gets lost!" She grabs Lilly and Luna's hand in her right and Emma's hand with her left. Emma grabs Jericho's hand, and Lilly and Luna grab Marty's hand. They dart out of the collapsed building, clumsily scrambling over the rubble and trying not to let go of each other. They duck into the doorway of the next building. They continue in this pattern, sprinting from one doorway to the next, attempting to outrun the carnage around them.

* * *

Hanzo is perched on the roof of a building like a gargoyle, watching the destruction around him. It's his first real test as a ninja: survive the end of the world. He does not spare a moment to think about the other contestants, because his purpose is clear. He needs to win this game.

The _shinobi_, the ninja assassin, is an ancient figure that creeps through history, the unseen hand that carries out the work of rich land owner, the politician, the monarch. The first ninja was born of a demon and a crow. He was the enemy of the samurai. The ninja way composed an amalgam of cultural philosophy and the way of the Chinese monk. The bushido code of the samurai boasted honour, dignity, and loyalty; the ninja code dedicated itself to accomplishing the mission no matter what the cost. Ninjitsu fighting is an art of practicality. If a technique is effective, it is acceptable. The ninja is trained in body skills, karate, spear fighting, staff fighting, blade-throwing, use of fire and water, fortification and strategy, and concealment.

Hanzo is a fledgling ninja at best. It takes years to master the subtle arts, and he is little more than a child.

He faces the burning city, remembers his ancestors, and knows that Total Drama Space is his to conquer. Sneak attacks, poison, seduction, and spying are the terror of the samurai and the livelihood of the shinobi. Hanzo is quiet like the spider and venomous like the snake.

He springs from his perch on the roof, drawing the shinobigatana from his belt as he sails through the air. He slices through a burning rock as it falls before him, and using the momentum from the strike to propel him toward the next roof. He lands gracefully, tucking his sword back into its sheathe.

Hanzo does not fear the end of the world, so this challenge belongs to him.

* * *

LoLo drives like a maniac. Scott and Leo were screaming well before the first giant flaming boulder fell. When the sky starts to rain massive amounts of death and destruction, it only gets worse. "LoLo!" Scott yells as they just barely swerve away from yet another obstacle in the road. "I really think you should let someone else drive!"

Not that Scott is a better driver. His best friend Stiles never lets him drive his jeep. What a spoilsport. And Leo has never driven a car before, because he hasn't gotten his learner's permit yet. He was always busy, ok? He was perfectly happy with his bike back home. He'd never even imagined he would have to drive a car through the apocalypse.

LoLo wasn't going to relinquish the steering wheel anyway. She was cackling gleefully from the front seat, high on adrenaline and lacking any inhibitions anyway. Leo's knuckles were white where he clutched the car door in search of some sort of stability as the car bounced up onto the sidewalk, then back onto the road, only to swerve violently to the side in order to avoid a vehicle parked at the curb. He silently thanked Chris for not including civilians in the simulation, because he was pretty sure if he had to sit in the back seat while LoLo mowed down innocent bystanders he would probably start screaming.

LoLo's strategy for surviving the end of the world is to basically ignore it entirely. Admittedly, she did floor it after Chris's announcement, taking their speed up about twenty kilometers per hour, but Leo thinks that might have been an accident. To her credit, none of the three of them have died yet. But Leo's beginning to think maybe he needs some new, less batshit insane friends.

Not that Scott seems to be enjoying this joyride either. "Come on LoLo, at least slow down a little. If you get us into a car crash it's gonna be just as bad as getting crushed to death by a meteoroid." He's trying to bed reasonable, but she just laughs at him. His voice is squeaky with fear and every time she hits a bump he hits his head on the roof, to her apparently endless amusement.

_My mom's going to be so mad if I die, _Leo thinks to himself. He's staring out the window now, watching one of the skyscrapers get hit straight-on by a particularly large fireball. It crumples like it's made of paper. Leo sighs, feeling a little detached from behind the window of this car on a wild rampage. He'll probably die of whiplash before he has the chance to be demolished by a falling hunk of space rock.

Right on cue, Leo is flung forward in his seat with a huge velocity. If he wasn't wearing his seatbelt, he'd be dead. The reason is obvious, once he looks forward. A meteoroid has fallen onto the road directly in front of them, shaking the Earth and creating a split down the road. The car balances precariously over it, the right wheels on one side and the left wheels on the other. There's no way for the car to get around the huge chunk of dirt and metal. Looks like their ride has been cut short.

The three teens get out of the car, Leo rubbing the stinging red mark where his seatbelt cut into his skin and Scott shaking with fear. "Wow, we came this close to being destroyed." Scott says, holding up his hands to show just how close – about an inch.

LoLo seems to be ignoring the danger and is trying to climb the meteoroid. "How are we supposed to get past this?" She asked, scrabbling at the side of it. There's no way to get purchase against it. "We're stuck on this side of the street," she says frowning.

Leo looks around them for the first time. "Hey," he says. "Look here. There's a hotel entrance, see? And there's a door here, and a door that goes to the other side of the meteor." Scott and LoLo examine it briefly as well.

"Are you sure it's gonna be safe?" Scott asks. He was apparently really affected by the threat of imminent death posed by the falling meteoroid. Leo shrugged.

"I think it's just as safe as standing around in the open street," he says. "I'll go first, though, I guess." He takes a deep breath, putting on a brave face. Now that Scott has mentioned it, it seems very unsafe to go into the building. It would probably be equally unsafe to go into any building, but Leo feels his palms start to sweat as he approaches the door. It's not locked, which is a good thing. He starts his journey slowly, carefully choosing each step. The meteoroid has knocked in a good portion of the lobby, so he skirts around it. He's almost at the other side already, which is such a relief he thinks he could cry. LoLo and Scott are watching him closely from the other side of the glass. When he looks back at them, they both grin and give him a thumbs up.

A meteoroid hits the building and the entire thing collapses with Leo inside.

LoLo and Scott both start screaming as they watch Leo get crushed under the weight of a twenty-two storey hotel.

* * *

Jamie and Scarlett were the farthest out when the biblical hail started falling. "Oh, crap," Scarlett said, grabbing Jamie's arm and pulling her into cover while they watched the first meteoroid fall. "Chris McLean is a _psycho_."

Jamie laughs a little. "It's not like it's real, remember? It's a simulation. But we need to win this." She looks around them, trying to figure out what the best, safest route to take is. "I've seen a lot of movies about the apocalypse," she mutters. "So if anyone's gonna nail this challenge, it'll be me. You're lucky I like you," she says, grinning at Scarlett, "or else I'd totally be playing this as every-girl-for-herself."

Scarlett makes a face at her. "I could survive on my own," she says, pouting slightly. "But I guess it's better to work as a team anyway."

Jamie's barely paying attention. "We should avoid going into buildings…" She says under her breath, thinking hard. "But when we're out in the open we can get hit by the meteors…" Her finger is tapping her chin, and Scarlett's joined her in contemplation. Finally, Jamie sighs "I guess there's no really safe way to go. If we cut through the residential streets, there's less of a chance that we'll get buried under a building, right?" Scarlett nods, and they turn down a street that's lined with cedar hedges and wooden fences. The place seems eerily abandoned, and many of the houses have caught fire from the burning rocks. It smells terrible.

"We have to be careful of smoke inhalation," Scarlett says.

"Yeah. I didn't even think about that before."

The two are mostly silent as they walk, occasionally stopping as another meteoroid threatens to fall on them, only to miss them by a few meters. Before long, the street is scorched black and there are cracks spreading across the asphalt like the strands of a spider web. "What are the chances the sewer line runs underneath the road we're on?" Scarlett asks dryly. "If it does, this place could crack open and send us falling down to our deaths."

Jamie's eyes widen. "Do you think we could use the sewer to get through the city?"

Scarlett chews her lips thoughtfully. "It's risky. Like I said, if the street cracks open it'll send anything on it down into the sewer line. That includes meteors, cars, pieces of building… But so far the construction seems pretty sturdy. We've seen some big meteors hit and they haven't broken through. Plus, going down basically eliminates the threat of being crushed directly by burning space slag."

Jamie shrugs. "Sounds like the best chance we've got."

They pull back the manhole cover down the street. "It's pretty dark down there," Scarlett says doubtfully. Jamie pulls a pocket flashlight from a keychain attached to her belt loop.

"This is all I've got. Do you think it'll be enough?"

Scarlett thinks hard for a moment, and then shrugs. "Only on way to find out, I guess," she says, and lowers her down through the hole. She follows the ladder down, one rung at a time. When she reaches the bottom it's almost pitch darkness. She can hear Jamie following her down the ladder. "Well, so far I'm sort of freaked out," she says. Jamie laughs.

"The meteoroids didn't freak you out, but the dark sewer does?" She asks, raising an eyebrow (not that Scarlett can see). "It's not like Chris would have programmed sewer gators."

Both girls freeze as soon as she says that. "Actually," Scarlett says, "I think he really, really would."

* * *

Author's Note: To be continued in Chapter Six! You're not gonna believe what happens next! Cast your final votes for who to eliminate! I did some research into the history of the ninja for this chapter – the site I used was asianhistory(d0t)about(d0t)com which I'm not sure how reliable it is, but I figure since it's a fictional story, I can be allowed some artistic freedom! The next part should be posted really soon, either later tonight or tomorrow. I decided to split it up because it's over 4,000 words already and the challenge isn't even close to being done! The next part will probably be shorter though. Hope you liked it, leave your comments, concerns and complaints in the reviews section! Feel free to berate me if I got your character wrong or didn't pay enough attention to them. I promise I won't be mad, it really helps me to figure out what I need to fix when I write the next part! Oh also I'm really sorry about the verb tense in this ugh I couldn't keep up a consistent verb tense to save my life. That's probably why I'm an amateur writer, not a professional :P


	5. Chris McLean Destroys the Earth part 2

Author's Note: Some pretty dark themes in this chapter! A lot of fake character deaths. Hopefully this doesn't traumatize you the way it traumatizes the campers! :3

* * *

Ruby is having trouble keeping her group together, even though they're all holding hands. Mentally, Emma and Marty are really struggling. Everyone's struggling to keep up the same pace and it's hard to climb over piles of collapsed building materials when your hands are connecting to someone else's. Selfishly, she wishes that less people had decided to go with her. However, she knows that she's going to protect all of them as best as she can – it's in her personality.

Marty McFly has travelled to the future and back again, he's been shot at and he's faced down bullies, but he's never had to deal with a meteoroid almost crushing him to death. He's not ready to die. He's not ready for the world to end. And he hates holding hands. His palms are really sweaty. He's thinking of defecting from the group. He has his hoverboard collapsed conveniently and tucked safely into the back pocket of his jeans. He would move a lot faster if he was on his own on his hoverboard. And the sooner he wins this game, the sooner he can get out of this psycho deathtrap. Marty hasn't won any challenges, which is a downright crime, even if it has only been two days. He had been hoping to impress Ruby with his suave skills, but she isn't even looking at him. That's fine. He can impress plenty of ladies once he's won a million dollars.

He lets go of Lilly and Luna's hand. They look back at him in surprise, but they're jerked forward by Ruby on the other side and the keep on walking. Marty barely even looks at them as he pulls out his hoverboard. The twins pull on Ruby's hand to get her attention, and the whole group looks back at Marty just as he unfolds his board and hops on it. He sees them all staring and smiles.

"Sorry guys, but I gotta go a little bit faster!" With that, he starts gathering speed and skates away, the board levitating a few feet in the air. To make sure the others don't follow him, he sets off the rocket boosters to make the board go extra fast. It's not personal, it's just business.

The others watch him go in confusion. "Rude," Luna says. Nobody else replies. Ruby tugs on Emma and the twins' hands and starts them off walking again.

"Best of luck to him out there on his own," is all Ruby says as she brings her group under another archway. The smell of smoke permeates the air around them as fire starts to spread throughout the downtown center they're in. Soon the fire will have spread enough to start blocking off the streets. The sense of urgency that has been with them since Chris first announced the real challenge has doubled over time, so that it's hard to be rational about getting to their destination. Ruby's worried that's what happened to Marty; she knows, despite the instinct she has to run as fast as she can to reach her destination, that they can't sacrifice caution and safety for speed.

She's not too worried though. He did just leave them all behind without so much as a backward glance.

Like she has so many other times, Emma trips. Her foot sinks into the rubble pile they were climbing over, and when she falls the entire line is pulled back with a jerk. "Sorry guys," she says, chuckling nervously. She tries to pull her foot back out of the place it's been trapped in. It won't budge. The other three all gather around, trying to help her. Ruby and Jericho both grab one of her arms and start to lift, but she lets out a yelp of pain. "I think it's twisted… I don't think I can pull it out." At this point, she's starting to sweat, her eyes filled with fear. They all know that if they can't pull her out, they're going to have to leave her behind.

Jericho licks his lips nervously and starts to pull at the rubble around her leg, trying to dig her out. "Be careful," Ruby warns. "You could cause an avalanche. Then we're all screwed." The boy only nods, intent on his work. Lilly, Luna and Ruby watch awkwardly. Emma tries to help Jericho out, but the angle is awkward for her. She ends up slouching in place, feeling useless. Her back hurts from the angle she's in.

Jericho's been working at it for a few minutes when suddenly Lilly clears her throat awkwardly. "Guys… I think we're in big trouble." They all look at her to find that she's pointing to the sky. There's a meteoroid heading straight toward them, getting bigger by the second.

"Oh God," Ruby says. "Jericho, can you get her out?"

Jericho looks up at Emma and meets her eyes. Her shoulders slump immediately, but she tries to smile anyway.

"It's okay. He can't dig me out without collapsing the whole pile. You guys need to get out of the way before this meteor hits me. There's nothing we can do. It's just a game though, right? You keep playing. I lose, I got my foot stuck, I wasn't very good at playing. That's okay. You should get out of here. Hurry! You're wasting time!"

Sure enough, the meteoroid is getting closer and closer. Ruby and Lilly and Luna are staring at Emma in horror. But Jericho smiles a little as he stands up again. "I'll stay with you," he says. The girls all gasp.

"You can't!" Emma says. "You have to keep playing. You can't just give up because of me!" Jericho shrugs. Instead of answering her, he turns to the other two.

"You guys should get out of the way before it's too late. Go! It's stupid for all of us to die. But we can't leave Emma alone, right? That's not… it just isn't… the way to go. So you guys keep playing. I'll take care of her."

There's horrified silence for a moment or two, but the meteoroid isn't going to wait for their tragic goodbyes. Ruby grabs Lilly and Luna's hand and starts leading them down the rubble pile. They scurry away into safety, beneath the next doorway, and then look back.

Jericho and Emma aren't looking at their teammates. Jericho's trying to make Emma laugh. "I can't believe you're staying with me," she whispers to him. Jericho blushes.

"I guess I just… really like you," he mumbles. Emma starts to blush too. She leans in to kiss him.

The meteoroid crushes them both.

* * *

Scott and LoLo do their best to search the rubble to find Leo, to check if he's… still alive, but they can't find anything and the meteoroids are starting to fall faster around them. They need to keep moving. They walk away from the hotel feeling grief-stricken, even though they know that they're friend isn't really dead. It _feels_ real, and LoLo even starts to sniffle. Scott awkwardly puts a hand on LoLo's shoulder. "There there," he says in a monotonous voice. "We'll see Leo again after this challenge is over."

LoLo nods mournfully. Then she gets distracted from her sadness in the blink of an eye as her arm shoots out to point at something further up the street. "_Scott,_" she whispers, starting to bounce with excitement. "Scott, there's a _motorcycle_!" She approaches the bike at a run.

"Oh no," Scott says. He sees his life flash before his eyes. "Oh my god. Allison, if you're watching me right now, I hope you know I love you. I think I'm about to die."

LoLo is circling the motorcycle like it's fresh prey, rubbing her hands together in gleeful anticipation.

"Do you even know how to drive a motorcycle?" Scott asks, terrified.

LoLo rolls her eyes. "Of course I do! My brother who goes to prison a lot taught me how to drive a motorcycle when I was like, ten."

Scott is not reassured.

Against his better judgment (not that Scott McCall really has a good sense of judgment in the first place, it's sort of like there's Scott's horrible judgments, and then there's the slightly better but still really bad judgements) when LoLo gets on the bike, Scott gets on behind her. It's not like he has anywhere else to go. He's stuck with this partner, and he doesn't really want to face the end of the world alone. Even if it is fake.

He holds on for dear life as LoLo takes off at full speed down the road.

The only surprising thing about LoLo crashing the bike into the brick wall of a building is that she ends up "killing" them instantly, as opposed to drawing it out for a few hours.

Scott and LoLo are out of the competition.

* * *

Emily, Henry, Johnny and Fabrizio navigate through the subway tunnels using the signs nailed onto the side of the wall at the station.

"I wonder how Chris managed to create such a detailed simulation of a city," Henry mused aloud as they walked. "It seems like it should have taken a long time. I mean, look at all the minor things that were included. The graffiti on the walls, the rust on the train tracks… It feels so real." His words echo off the concrete walls around them, and none of the others bother to answer him. It seems like he's just talking to himself, anyway.

"I wonder how the others are doing," Fabrizio says, after a period of silence. The others frown. They're not really sure how the game really works. When you die in the game, what happens to you in real life? Henry can't stop thinking about the Matrix and shudders.

Occasionally a frisson will shake the ground underneath them, but so far they've been safe underground. When they hear a particularly loud crash they all look up and wonder about the other contestants even more. It's hard not to be terrified even if technically the end of the world is just a sick game Chris McLean designed.

"Imagine if Chris fell for one of his own traps," Emily said, smirking. "Hit by the meteors he created himself." She laughs, but the others don't really feel amused. It's way more likely that one of them will be hit by meteoroids rather than Chris.

"Does this tunnel go on forever or something?" Johnny asks, growing impatient. The details of the city may be fascinating, but the size of it is just infuriating.

"Well," Henry says, and then he stops. Everyone turns to look at him expectantly. He scuffs his shoe on the pavement nervously. "It would be faster if we walked on the tracks," he said hesitantly. The others, as if on cue, all turn to look at the tracks at the same time. "But," Henry continues, "Obviously we would be taking a huge risk. There hasn't been a train for the whole time we've been down so far. But you can never put random violence past Chris McLean. He could even be watching us right at this moment, waiting for us to mess up so he can eliminate us all from the game."

The others nod thoughtfully. "So, the question is, do we want to take a risk to go faster? We could lose the game by being hit by a train, or we could lose the game by being too slow to get to the finish line," Emily sums up. "We'll vote then. Those in favour of taking the tracks?" She raises her hand, and Johnny does too. Hesitantly, Fabrizio and Henry do as well. "It's unanimous, then. We take the tracks."

Swallowing her trepidation and fear, Emily steps right onto the tracks without hesitating. For almost an entire minute they all stand completely tense, none of them breathing, waiting for her to be hit suddenly by a runaway subway car. Nothing happens.

Sighing with relief, Johnny and Fabrizio hop down onto the tracks behind her. Henry is the first one to climb down.

They walk quicker than they were on the safe zone, their feet hurried by a suppressed fear. Every noise they hear makes them tense, convinced that they're dead meat. But they stay safe. The walk for what feels like miles, and they never hear a train coming.

After a long time, they see the exit they want to take up ahead. "There it is," Emily says, wiping sweat from her forehead. She starts to relax, and hurries her pace until she's jogging.

They hear a rumble.

They all freeze.

This time, it's not a meteoroid destroying another building on the surface.

This time, it's definitely a subway train.

"Oh my god," Fabrizio breathes. They all break into a frenzied run. The tunnel reverberates with the speed of the train hurtling towards them.

Emily gets to safety. She turns back to help Johnny up into safety, and oh my god, the train is _right there_. It looks huge. It takes up the entire tunnel. Johnny is safe. They both haul Fabrizio up, just in time, the train is practically on top of them –

Henry doesn't make it.

The survivors collapse onto the ground, safe, and they all feel horrible and sick. The fear and adreline make their heads feel fuzzy, while the grief of the – simulated – loss of their friend makes them want to puke.

Fabrizio takes it the hardest. He's not emotionally stable at the best of times, but now he's shaking and mumbling to himself. Emily pulls herself up into a sitting position from where she's been lying on the ground and approaches Fabrizio cautiously. "Are you okay, Fabric?" She asks him, trying to keep her voice quiet so she won't upset him even more. He doesn't answer. She reaches out to touch his shoulder, but again he doesn't react. "It's just a game…Henry's going to be alright. We'll see him again when we finish this game. There's no need to freak out."

To her surprise and horror, Fabrizio starts to laugh. Emily and Johnny exchange a look. Neither of them have any idea of what to do. Fabrizio starts talking louder, so they can both hear what he's saying. "Wow, that was so funny Henry," he says, making a gurgling sound that's sort of like a mix between laughing and crying. "Wow, you really scared me there. Good thing you're okay." Fabrizio reaches to pat Henry on the shoulder. Emily and Johnny are starting to get really nervous. "I'm glad you made it, too, Henry, or else what would we do? You're so smart, ha ha, wow, walking on the tracks was such a good idea, ha ha." Emily can see Fabrizio's eye twitching as he talks. She backs up a little bit.

Fabrizio continues to take, but it's drowned out by a distant rumbling noise. It's not the same kind of sound that the train had made. It sounds more like the times they'd heard the buildings collapsing around them. Emily tenses immediately.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Johnny asks her, licking his lips nervously.

"Oh, I don't know, are you thinking that the subway just started collapsing around us?" Emily asks. Johnny doesn't answer her, because now they can hear the definite sound of the supports groaning and giving out. "Come on, Fabrizio," Emily says, grabbing him by the hand, "Come on, we have to leave. We can't stay here."

Fabrizio still isn't responding to her. "Help me!" she snaps at Johnny, and they both grab and arm. They're dragging Fabrizio toward the stairs, but at the same time they know this isn't going to work. They've both got that kind of horrible sinking feeling in their stomachs that comes when you realise you had homework last night and you didn't do it and the teacher's decided to check. It's the sinking feeling of 'Wow, I'm about to be in trouble.' They've reached the stairs, but their palms are so sweaty they're losing their grips on Fabrizio's wrists. They can't carry him up the stairs. He's not responding to them, he still thinks he's talking to Henry. And they can see that down the tunnel the roof is falling in a sequence like dominos falling down.

They both know they have to leave Fabrizio behind, but they're both too horrified to deal with that reality. They hold uselessly onto his arms as they watch the destruction approach them.

Johnny snaps out of it first. "We need to go," he says out loud. His voice is hoarse. Emily nods, but doesn't move. With a deep breath, Johnny drops Fabrizio's hand. "Sorry, man. I'm so sorry," he says, and then he grabs Emily's arm instead and starts running up the stairs. They're not really leaving him to die alone by being crushed by a collapsing subway tunnel. It's just a simulation. But it feels real.

"I hate Chris McLame so much," Emily says as they run.

* * *

Jamie's pocket flashlight did little to alleviate the darkness as the two girls made their way through the underground tunnel. They were both tense and neither of them spoke. They kept on expecting an alligator to jump out at them like they did in Animal Planet documentaries, grabbing one of them by the leg and dragging them underwater. After all, Chris had spared no other detail in his design of the city – the sewers even smelled realistically bad – so why would he not include a couple of full-grown prehistoric reptiles hanging out underneath the roads? Their footsteps echoed off the moist walls and the surface of the water that ran smoothly through the pipe beside them as if the apocalypse wasn't going on.

The sewer shuddered occasionally, the noise of rattling rocks and shifting concrete above causing groaning sounds to echo ominously through the sewer. However, there was no sign of structural damge, so Jamie and Scarlett carried on. Jamie led the way, holding Scarlett's hand as she shone the thin beam of light at the ground beneath her feet. They had gone a fair distance before Jamie suddenly stopped. Scarlett almost ran into her.

"What is it?" She asked tensely, her hand squeezing Jamie's tighter instinctively.

"I saw something move in the water," Jamie whispered back. A cold sweat was breaking out on her forehead. _It's just a simulation_, she thought to herself, but it did nothing to alleviate her terror. They stay still for what feels like a long time, their breaths shallow and echoing off the grimy walls surrounding them.

Finally, Jamie starts moving again. "Must have been a false alarm," she says, but she doesn't sound convinced.

They make it another fifteen steps before she stops again. "There's definitely something in there," Jamie says, and she shines the flashlight straight into the water.

There's definitely something in there.

She and Scarlett both scream. There are at least ten crocodiles gathered just inches from their legs. They run. The ghost of their screeches echoes around them. The sewer water is suddenly alive with splashing, lunging, clawing crocodiles. The flashlight beam swings back and forth around the tunnel, illuminating different things. First, Jamie's terrified face; then a stretch of graffiti across the tunnel wall; then the glinting teeth of a wide open mouth inches from Scarlett's arm. "It's just a simulation!" Jamie screams as they run, but they're both sobbing for breath, tears of horror running down their cheeks.

They get to the exit ladder.

"Climb!" Jamie shouts, pushing Scarlett ahead of her.

"If I go first, you die," Scarlett says, hesitating. Jamie looks her straight in the eye.

"I know. Climb! Win this for me!" They stare at each other for a moment, then Scarlett says, "If I climb fast, you can climb up after me. I'll wait for you!"

Then she scurries up the ladder faster than she's ever climbed in her life. She can hear teeth snapping beneath her. Jamie doesn't scream, which must mean she's okay.

She reaches the street and pushes the manhole cover up. It's surprisingly light. She climbs out of the hole into daylight and finds that she's covered in disgusting dirt and slimes. She ignores it, crouching by the opening of the sewer, ready to help Jamie up.

She waits for ten minutes. Jamie doesn't re-surface.

* * *

Somehow, the remaining contestants all converge on the same place at the same time despite the different ways they took to get there.

Johnny and Emily are sticking closely together as they arrive at a crossroads. Sitting in the middle beside an uncovered manhole is Scarlett, who is grimy and looks devastated. Marty comes by on his hoverboard, and looks like he's about to pass them right by, but stops, curious. Hanzo jumps down from a rooftop, surveying his competition. Lilly and Luna climb over a rubbish pile, closely followed by Ruby. Leo walks out of a nearby building.

"Where are Scott and LoLo?" He asks. "I lost track of them earlier, I got trapped in a building."

No one has any idea, but Chris answers the question. A blimp flies overhead with a huge banner hanging down from it. It has each of the contestants' faces on it. Lolo, Scott, Jamie, Emma, Jericho, Fabrizio and Henry all have big exes over their faces.

"Remaining contestants!" Chris's voice calls out. "Here is a bonus challenge! If you can climb to the top of this skyscraper-" the skyscraper directly across from them lights up – "and get to the top first, before the tower is destroyed by a meteor, you get a ride to the finish line in my blimp!"

The contestants all look at each other for a moment. Then half of them run off at breakneck speed, each desperate to get to the top of the skyscraper before the others. Hanzo, Ruby, Marty, Lilly and Luna are all running, while Leo, Emily, Johnny and Scarlett stay put. They all gather around Scarlett.

"Are you okay?" Leo asks, crouching down beside her.

"Jamie got eaten by crocodiles," she says, sounding like she doesn't actually believe it. The others exchange looks of horror.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Emily asks. "Henry got hit by a subway train and Fabrizio got crushed when the subway collapsed. This game is really horrible."

Scarlett gets to her feet. "We need to get to the finish line and end this before anyone else dies," she says, her face fierce and determined. The others nod. They ignore the skyscraper and head off in the direction the blimp came from.

* * *

Hanzo is the first person to reach the skyscraper. He ignores the elevator at the bottom in favour of running up the side, holding on to a windowsill to pull himself up, and scurrying up the side of the tower like a spider. Ruby arrives next, but she holds the elevator for Lilly and Luna, who are slower runners. Marty's on his hoverboard, so he's faster than the twins. He goes for the elevator, but Ruby bars the way. "Sorry Marty, but you left us behind, so we're leaving you behind." She smiles sweetly at him and slams the close door button just as Luna and Lilly slip inside. The elevator is high speed, but Hanzo is fast, too. Marty has to hoverboard up the stairs. It's not tiring, but it's slower than the elevator. He gets a wicked idea.

He starts to turn off of the stairs and press the "call elevator" button on each floor.

That slows Lilly, Luna and Ruby up by a huge amount.

* * *

The group on the ground is being slowed down by constant meteors. They dodge and weave through wrecked cars, rubble from demolished buildings, and giant boulders. They flinch at each tremble of the Earth, freezing momentarily and then bursting into action, retreating to a doorway or hiding under a random piece of discarded material.

The thing that breaks up their group isn't a meteor, like they expect it to be. They should know by now that Chris McLean is anything but predictable. They're in the middle of a highway overpass, almost at the exit of the city, when the ground starts to shake not from a tremor caused by a meteor strike, but from a real 8.5 Richter scale shifting of the tectonic plates earthquake. The overpass begins to give out beneath their feet.

They start to run faster than they've ever run before. Scarlett and Leo are in front, but Emily and Johnny aren't fast enough. The ground disappears beneath Emily's feet. She starts to scream, but Johnny spins around and catches her wrist. They can both see that below the overpass the road has opened up into a chasm.

"Hold on, Emily!" Johnny yells. His fingers are clasping her arms so hard she'll probably get bruises, but he's starting to pull her up.

An aftershock hits.

The bypass crumbles beneath them, and they tumble screaming into the abyss.

* * *

Hanzo reaches the top ring of the skyscraper first. The blimp is hovering above the point. Marty, Lilly, Luna and Ruby aren't far behind. They all run as cautiously as they can across the disc, none of them eager to sacrifice swiftness for safety. They're so high up it's nauseating. Thewind blows around them, carrying the ashes of burning buildings with it. Hanzo leads the group up to the blimp and jumps into the passenger area just as a meteor crashes into the middle of the tower. The roof pitches forward violently, and Lilly and Luna are sent sprawling forward into the blimp, too. Ruby clutches onto the side of the blimp, but her fingers are slipping. She grabs Marty's hands, and the building falls away beneath them, leaving the two of them hanging.

Hanzo hesitates.

He can push them off. Or he can sacrifice himself to save them.

The ninja completes the mission no matter what the cost.

Ruby meets his eyes, terror on her face.

Her fingers are slipping. She's less than an inch from falling away into the void.

She's strong and brave to the end. She doesn't beg and she doesn't scream. Hanzo admires her. She takes a deep breath in the second before she falls, and Hanzo can't help but save her. He pulls her into the blimp, but, as he knew it would, the wind buffets him so strongly that he tumbles over the edge. Marty's fingers slip from Ruby's as she tries to pull him into the blimp.

Hanzo and Marty fall down, down, down toward the ground. Marty screams. Hanzo is silent as a ghost.

* * *

Lilly, Luna and Ruby turn away from the scene of death and look around the blimp. They expected Chris to be in it, ready to drive them to the finish line. They should have known better than to trust him, really. The cockpit is empty. Chris's face shows up on a little TV screen.

"I meant you could have a ride to the finish line in the blimp, but you'll have to drive it yourself!" He says happily, and then the screen goes black. Lilly, Luna and Ruby approach the dozens of buttons and levers that adorn the cockpit.

"Where do we even start?" Ruby asks, running her hand over a few buttons.

Luna frowns. "I've studied the cockpit of an airplane before," she says, and moves forward. "I think this joystick steers the blimp." She uses the joystick to turn the blimp to the right, then to the left. "Okay, that's simple enough," she says, sounding optimistic. She turns the blimp a little more to the blimp.

The huge airship putts along for a little while.

Then it gets hit by a flaming meteoroid and blows up.

* * *

Scarlett and Leo are the last remaining contestants, although they don't know it. They're running through an obstacle course of broken sheet glass and crushed cars. They can see the finish line by now. The end is in sight.

"Oh, come _on_!" Scarlett screams. She almost wants to give up. But she promised Jamie she would win for her. She keeps running. Leo is more cautious. He sees that if he skirts around the right side in the tornado, he'll avoid any danger, but it will take much longer.

Leo has seen enough people go down in this challenge to even consider taking a tornado on first hand.

He goes the long way around.

Meanwhile, Scarlett sprints down the road without stopping.

_It's just a simulation,_ she remembers Jamie repeating over and over. She has nothing to be afraid of. She ducks her head as the wind picks up around her and dirt and debris starts to lift off the ground and surround her.

"This isn't so bad," she says through gritted teeth as she pushes forward. She can see the eye of the storm ahead of her. She's almost at the halfway to safety point.

Scarlett knows she's going to win this challenge.

Scarlett gets hit by a Ford truck.

* * *

Leo reaches the finish line safe and sound. Chris shoots a confetti gun at him, and then the city disappears.

Leo finds himself in a room surrounded by the other competitors.

Chef Hatchet is giving out hot chocolate, wearing a pink apron with hearts on it. The others are all grim faced. Some of them are still crying. He sees that there are screens mounted on the wall showing the city, now empty of all contestants. As he watches, the screen goes black.

Chris McLean bounces into the room with a big smile on his face. "Wow!" He says, clapping his hands. "That was the most intense challenge in Total Drama history!"

No one in the room shares his enthusiasm. They all look like they could use a few years' worth of grief counselling.

"Well, it looks like Leo won! What a shocker! That mean he's immune in tonight's elimination ceremony. Speaking of, I'll meet you all in the mess hall at 8:00. Until then, you've got free time! Can't wait for our next challenge."

Chris McLean prances out of the room cheerfully while fifteen campers plot his own unpleasant demise.


	6. The First Elimination

The elimination ceremony

The campers gather in the mess hall at 8:00 pm. They are still very angry at Chris. Most of them are clinging very tight to others: Jamie and Scarlett are walking arm-in-arm and sit down together. Jericho and Emma are holding hands, sitting with Lilly, Luna and Ruby. Hanzo is sitting next to Ruby at her request. She is smiling at him shyly, but his face is hidden by his mask. It's impossible to know what the ninja is feeling. Scott is sitting with Leo. He is angry at LoLo for killing them, which is making Leo feel awkward, caught in between them. Henry and Fabrizio are huddled in a corner with Emily and Johnny. Marty's the odd man out, and he enters the room alone. He approaches Ruby, Lilly and Luna, and Emma and Jericho.

"Hey, guys," he says, scratching the back of his head and smiling sheepishly. "I'm sorry for ditching you during the competition. I let the challenge get to my head instead of being a team player. I hope you'll forgive me!"

The girls glare at him for a minute, but none of them are good at holding grudges. They each smile at him. "It's okay Marty," Lilly says. "We all got competitive. It was the end of the world and we could only survive if we pushed each other out of the way. If I had a hoverboard, I probably would have used it too."

Marty sat down beside Lilly and Luna gratefully. Nobody wants to be the only one without a group of friends. Secretly, Lilly, Luna, and Ruby all change their votes in their heads.

Chris McLean bounces happily into the room once everyone's seated.

"Hey campers! How is everyone tonight?"

Nobody replies. "Aw, are you guys still mad about the challenge? Come on, guys! They say there's nothing to fear but fear itself, and we can all safely say that we have faced the most frightening thing in existence: the end of the world! So really, I've done you all a favour by making you stronger."

There's complete silence. Nobody will even look at Chris. It's like everyone in the room is pretending he doesn't exist.

"Oh, fine, be that way. We're sending one of you home anyway. Everybody come on up and vote!"

**Confession Booth**

Jamie: I'm voting for Emma, because she's clumsy. When we get put on teams, I think she'll cause a lot of problems. Besides, she pushed me down. She basically declared war.

Scarlett: I'm voting for Emma. I talked to Jamie about it, and we both agreed that she's the weakest link.

Jericho: I'm voting for Jamie. She's been really rude to Emma, in my opinion. It's not Emma's fault she tripped and happened to pull Jamie down with her. Okay, it might be a little, but that doesn't mean Jamie can just be rude about it!

Emma: I don't really want to vote for anyone, it seems really mean. But I'm voting for Jamie, because she has been sort of mean! I apologized, but she didn't accept it! I think that's her loss, though.

Lilly: I'm voting for Emma. I know she's my friend, but she's really clumsy! I'm worried she'll hurt herself.

Luna: I agree with my sister. I love Emma, but when we get put on teams, it's gonna suck if Emma trips and ruins the challenge for everyone.

Ruby: I'm voting for Emma. I feel very bad for Jericho, because I know he _like_ likes her, but Emma's sort of a mess! I'm worried they just let her come on the show for comic relief.

Hanzo: _He holds up a piece of paper with Marty's name on it. _

Scott: I'm voting for LoLo! She literally killed me!

LoLo: I'm voting for Scott! He's being a huge poop. Just because I drove the motorcycle into a building, he won't talk to me anymore. I told him I was sorry… Sorry that he was a huge baby!

Leo: I don't know who to vote for! Scott and LoLo voted for each other. They're being really silly. Oh! I know! I vote for Emily. She scares the whiskers off me!

Henry: I don't really know who to vote for. I heard some of the others say they were voting off Emma. I suppose I will rebel against the status quo and vote for… Marty McFly instead! I don't think anyone else is voting for him. I know that I am essentially throwing away my vote by doing this, but let me explain – _the camera cuts him off._

Fabrizio: I'm voting off Gary! I hate Gary! Hey, Gary, what are you doing in the confession booth? It's my turn to vote! Stop being such a poop! _Fabrizio punches the thin air._

Emily: I'm voting off Hanzo. He's clearly the biggest threat.

Johnny: I'm not sure who to vote for! Emily told me to vote for Hanzo, but what if he finds out I voted for him? He's scary. I think I'll vote for someone who won't kill me if they find out. I think I'll vote out Emma.

When Chris tallies the votes, Emma is the unlucky first camper to go home.

"Emma, you're the biggest loser of Total Drama Space! You're going home first! Please step into this escape pod, and we'll send you back to Earth!"

Emma steps forward, but Jericho chases her and grabs her hand.

"Wait, Emma, there's something I need to tell you!"

"I know, Jericho," Emma replies, smiling. "You can e-mail me when you get back home. My e-mail address is-" Chef cuts her off, grabbing her and carrying her to the pod "- Emma underscore the underscore clown at G-mail dot cooooooooo -" The escape pod door closes and the pod is launched into space at about a million kilometers per hour.

The campers watch her go somberly. Jericho sniffles. Chef hands him a dirty, disgusting pink handkerchief.

Chris claps his hands loudly, causing the campers to jump. "Well, now that we're more evenly numbered – in bodies, not people," he says, nodding to Lilly and Luna, "it seems like it's time to separate everyone into teams!"

Chris pulls two strings hanging from the ceiling and two banners fall down. One has a huge comet with a fiery tail flying through space. "The first team is the Colossal Comets!" He announces, with a flourish. The other banner is a cartoon alien with two antennae coming from its head. There's a stink cloud coming out of the alien. "The second team is the Noxious Martians!"

The campers stare at the banners with trepidation. They have learned very quickly not to trust Chris McLean. He pulls a big fancy scroll out of his pocket and starts to read names from it:

"Scott,

Lolo,

Hanzo,

Ruby,

Marty,

Johnny,

Emily,

You are the new members of the Colossal Comets!"

The contestants all eye each other warily. They're too tired after their long day to talk too much.

"That means the rest of you –

Leo,

Jericho,

Lilly and Luna,

Henry,

Fabrizio,

Jamie,

Scarlett,

You are the new members of the Noxious Martians! Now everyone go to sleep!"


	7. Total Drama Alien Attack!

The episode opens with the contestants eating breakfast. They are now sitting at two separate tables, one for the Martians and one for the Comets. Scott and LoLo are throwing their food at each other across the table, making growling noises and sticking their tongues out at each other. Ruby is attempting to talk to Hanzo, and Marty is attempting to talk to Ruby.

"So, Hanzo, how long have you been a ninja?" Ruby asks, smiling. Hanzo doesn't answer, but he does turn to look at her politely, to show that he's not ignoring her.

"I've been to the future," Marty says, leaning on his elbow so he's facing Ruby completely. She doesn't seem to realize he's talking to her though, and tries talking to Hanzo again.

"Okay, maybe you can answer a yes or no question. Hmm, have you ever been to Japan?" After a moment, Hanzo nods his head once. "Wow!" Ruby says excitedly. "That's so cool. I've never been, but my family's from there. I'm hoping to go there someday soon! Maybe if I win this game, I can take my whole family there."

Marty clears his throat, and actually gets Ruby's attention. "I went to the future, there were no ninjas there."

"You went to the future? When?" Ruby asks, interested. Before Marty can answer, Ruby's attention gets taken away again. Hanzo tosses an apple into the air and takes out a ninja star, slicing the apple into pieces will it's still in the air.

"Wow!" Ruby says. "Did you learn to do that in Japan?"

Further down the table, Emily and Johnny are watching the other three. "Hey, do you wanna place bets on who gets the girl in the end?" Emily asks, smirking and raising an eyebrow.

Johnny looks confused. "What do you mean? You mean Marty and Hanzo? You think they're fighting over Ruby?" Emily rolled her eyes.

"Obviously. Every time Marty gets Ruby's attention, Hanzo does something cool to make her look at him, and vice versa. So who do you think is gonna win her over?"

Johnny watched the three of them thoughtfully. "Well, Marty's pretty cool, but he probably got into Ruby's bad books when he pulled that stunt with the hoverboard."

"I agree. I think Ruby's into the strong, silent type."

On the Martian side, Leo was looking shy and frightened. Both of his friends were on the other team.

Henry looked around for a place to sit after being served by Chef, and decided to sit next to Leo. He felt bad for the little guy. "Hey Leo," Henry said, placing his plate down on the table. Fabrizio followed, taking a seat on the other side of the table.

"Oh, h-hi!" Leo said, trying his best to smile. He wasn't very good at making friends because he was so timid. "How are you guys? Are you happy about the team arrangements?"

"We're good!" Fabrizio said. "I'm pretty happy about our team, all the winners so far have been on the Martians so far. So we're looking pretty strong! The only person on our team I have a problem with is Gary."

"Um, who's Gary?" Leo asked curiously, glancing down the table. He already knew everyone's names, and he was pretty sure no one was Gary. Maybe it was a nickname though.

"Gary's sitting right over there," Fabrizio explained, pointing to an empty seat.

Henry and Leo exchanged a look. Then Leo said, "I don't think I like Gary very much either!" He grinned and winked at Henry.

Jericho was moping into his breakfast. He really missed Emma. Lilly and Luna were patting his arm and trying to cheer him up. "It's okay, Jericho, when we get to the finals you guys will be re-united! And you know, absence makes the heart grow fonder!"

"We were just getting to know each other! It's not fair. I can't believe she was the first to go. This game sucks."

He face planted into his dish, getting porridge all over himself.

Scarlett and Jamie were sitting on the opposite end of the table from them. "He blames us for voting her off," Jamie said, staring at Jericho from afar.

Scarlett rolled her eyes. "If it was just us who voted for her, she'd still be here. It was probably unanimous, that girl was a liability! I hope he doesn't cause problems for the team, though."

Jamie nodded in agreement. "We'd better win whatever challenge we get today. I hate losing, and I've lost three times in a row now!"

Scarlett agreed, but before she could say anything, Chris McLean entered the room. Everyone immediately stopped talking.

"Hel-lo campers!" Chris called out happily. "I hope you've all eaten your fill, because I have got quite the challenge in store for you! First things first, everyone put these on." He threw space suits to everyone. The Comets had blue and the Martians had red. The space suits were a lot like wetsuits for scuba diving, tight-fitting with a large white utility belt around the waist, which had a laser gun on it and things like rope in the pouches. The helmets of the space suits were like upside-down fish bowls, with tubes attached to oxygen tanks that the contestants wore like backpacks. Leo nearly fell over from the weight of the tanks.

"So, you're probably wondering what we're doing! Well, today we're going to be landing on an unexplored planet! We're going where no man has ever gone before! I'll tell you more when we land!"

The campers all rushed to the window to see the ship land on a bright green planet. When they broke through the cloud coverage, they could see a planet that was a lot like the Earth, but the grass was red, the sky was orange, and there was green smoke in the air.

"Is that air poisonous?" Henry asked.

Chris McLean grinned. "Of course! That's why we're wearing our space suits!"

"Cool!" LoLo shouted. "Are there extra-terrestrials?"

"You'll see…" Chris said ominously. He and Chef led the campers off the space ship. Chris's space suit was black, and Chef's was purple. "Okay, campers! Time to tell you what our challenge is!" They were standing in the middle of a field of blue grass. There was a giant plant at the far end of the field. "This is a simple game. All you have to do is get your team's flag and bring it back to this spot where I'm standing!"

The campers all glanced around suspiciously. There had to be a catch, the challenge was simply too easy. "What's the catch?" Emily finally asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Chris grinned. "You know, I could tell you, but that would be too easy! Martians, you guys have to get the red flag, and Comets, you have to get the blue one! Go ahead, start running!"

The contestants all warily left the start line. Rather than rush off, the Comets had a team huddle. "Okay," Ruby said, automatically taking the leadership position. No one tried to stop her. "We know that Chris is definitely hiding something from us. So we should approach the problem in waves. Scott, Marty and Emily are the strongest. Hanzo and I are the fastest. LoLo and Johnny, your skills aren't really applicable to this challenge, so you guys can be the distraction. LoLo and Johnny will go first, running up to the big plant, which will probably try to kill you. So your job is to stay alive and keep it occupied. Then Scott, Marty and Emily will run up and fight it, or whatever threat appears, while Hanzo and I use our speed to grab the flag and run it back home. Sound good?"

* * *

Everyone agreed. They joined their hands together in the middle and cheered their team name, then LoLo and Johnny started to run toward the plant.

Meanwhile, the Martians had decided to take advantage of the other team's slowness. They all charged together toward the big plant. Henry was the most cautious team member, and he stopped several feet away from the big plant. The rest of the Martians gathered behind he. He picked up a bright yellow rock from the ground and cautiously threw it at the plant.

With a horrible scream, the plant uncurled its tentacles. It wasn't a plant at all: it was like a giant octopus, a huge space monster with about a hundred arms all spreading out like tree branches from a central body that was round and a bright acidic green colour with bright red splotches. There were hundreds of shiny black eyes spread in three rings, one on top of the others, circling the creature's body.

The monster was clearly angry about being disturbed. Two of its arms reached out and grabbed the two closest campers, Henry and Scarlett. The two campers began kicking and yelling. The plant's arms were sticky everywhere they touched the contestants' skin, an unpleasant feeling and also a factor that made escaping almost impossible.

"Nobody panic!" Jamie shouted, although it was already too late for Scarlett and Henry. "Guys, we just need to keep calm and find its weak spot! It could be anything, fire, water, or a spot on its body! Try poking it in the eye, Scar!" Scarlett tried to get at one of the creature's eyes, but every time she got close it would suddenly pull her away and shake her.

"It's no good, I can't reach!" Scarlett shouted back. Leo, Lilly and Luna and Jericho were all trying to figure out how to help Henry, whose face was turning blue from how hard the monster was squeezing him. Fabrizio was nowhere to be found.

* * *

Johnny and LoLo had reached the monster. They were hoping that they could pass by the monster unnoticed because the other team was doing a pretty good distraction job themselves, but the big creature had enough eyes to see them coming, and enough arms to reach toward them and almost grab them, too. "How are we supposed to distract this thing?" Johnny asked, exasperated as he ducked another arm. "It's like, the ultimate multi-tasker!"

LoLo laughed loudly. "It's awesome! I wonder of it comes in a smaller size, then I could take one home as a pet!"

"That would not be awesome! Look, it's practically strangling Henry over there!"

LoLo made a face. "Well, if he wouldn't be so dorky, the monster would probably like him better!"

While she was talking, an arm snuck up behind her and grabbed her by the ankle. It swung her up into the air so that she was dangling upside down. "Whee!" She shouted, laughing as the blood rushed to her head. "This is fun!"

Johnny grimaced. "I'm on my own with the distraction thing, I guess. Gosh, what on Earth could possibly take its mind off of eating us?"

Johnny got hit by an idea like a bolt of lightning. "Duh! The thing that will stop it from eating us is eating something that tastes even better!" He started searching through the pockets of his suit, but there was no food in any of the utility belt pouches. "I'm gonna have to improvise," he muttered to himself, and then he ran as fast as he could into a nearby bush. He found a few berries, some fruits, some roots that looked good. He was going to make the best alien salad there ever was!

* * *

Jamie had used some of the rope from her utility belt and a stick from the ground to make a slingshot, and was aiming for the eyes of the big creature. It was difficult to aim it right so it would hit an eye and not one of her captive teammates.

Jericho, Lilly, Luna and Leo had decided to try out Jamie's other ideas, and Leo had taken a water bottle from one of his pouches. He had packed it there earlier in case he got thirsty. He aimed it as the monster and squeezed a jet of water at it, but the minute the water came into contact with the atmosphere of the planet, it exploded. Luckily it wasn't a big explosion, but it knocked Leo back. It also attracted the attention of the monster, which shot out an arm and took advantage of Leo being knocked down. Leo was lifted up to join Scarlett and Henry. "Hey guys," he said dejectedly. For some reason he was beginning to feel that he wasn't going to be the hero of the hour during this challenge.

"Hey!" He yelled to Jericho, Lilly and Luna, who had just found a box of matches in one of their pouches. "Hey, guys, don't light a fire! We have no idea if the atmosphere of this planet is flammable, or how it will react to fire! It's not worth the risk!"

"I guess he's right," Jericho said, putting the matches back in his pocket. "What are we gonna do, then?" He asked Lilly and Luna.

Luna smiled. "Well, we do know how water reacts… and we know it causes a little explosion. I think we can find a way to use that to our advantage!"

Jamie wasn't paying attention to her teammates, still determined to hit the monster in the eye. She has managed to make it angry by hitting it in the forehead and the stomach, but now she thought she had it figured out, the exact angle necessary to get the creature in one of its shiny black eyes.

She lined up the shot, and to her excitement she hit a bull's eye. "Yes!" She whooped with excitement, punching the air in victory. She didn't notice that the monster hadn't even reacted until it reached out to grab her. With a yelp of surprise she rolled to the left and dodged the blow. "Oh, for goodness' sake!" She shouted. If its eyes weren't vulnerable, what part of it was?

* * *

Scott, Marty and Emily had arrived at the party. Rather than dodging the monster's arms, they were fighting back against them. Emily was the master of an incredibly powerful high kick, Marty used his hoverboard is a weapon to knock back the monster's assaults, and Scott used his whole body, cross-checking and slapping away the arms as they came at him.

When Emily raised an eyebrow and asked how Scott had learned to fight, Scott laughed. "I play lacrosse!" He replied happily, and took another arm down by body checking it.

"Johnny, where are you? We could really use a distraction right now!" Marty called out as the giant creature began to focus more on the Comets than the Martians.

Right on cue, Johnny emerged from the bushes. He was carrying a gigantic piece of bark that was piled high with sliced fruit, chopped roots, and mixed berries over a pile of huge leaves. He trotted toward the monster carefully. At the sight of the food, all of the monsters' eyes swiveled toward the young chef. Johnny nearly fainted in fear. But the monster didn't attack him. It dropped the campers it had kidnapped and one of its arms reached out to grab the bark plate. Johnny let it go and yelled to his team, "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's get that flag!"

The Comets cheered and ran toward the place where Chris had told them the flags were. But as soon as they drew level with the monster it shot several arms out and blocked them like a goalie. "Ouf!" They shouted one by one as they were caught in the stomach. They retreated again.

Although the monster wasn't attacking them since it had been fed, it still wouldn't let them get through.

"Good try, anyway, Johnny," Emily said, clapping her friend on the back.

* * *

Lilly, Luna and Jericho were about to try making the monster run away by scaring it with an explosion when Fabrizio suddenly showed up. He was at the top of the monster.

"Fabrizio, get down!" Lilly shouted. "You're in the way of our plan!"

Fabrizio shook his head vigorously. "No, Gary, it's not going to work!" He shouted back. The Martians all exchanged worried looks. "I have the master plan, Gary!"

Before anyone could reply or try to stop him, Fabrizio slid down the monster to one of the many arms. He straddled it like a tree branch, and for a minute it looked like he was just climbing a tree as he moved down from one branch to the next.

Then he did something nobody expected. He reached under one of the thickest arms… and started tickling.

The monster started to make a strange gurgling sound. All of his arms fell limp around him, and his body started to shake. Fabrizio was making the big monster _laugh_. The ground began to tremble at the force of the creature's laughter.

As the contestants laughed, Ruby and Hanzo suddenly ran past at a ridiculous speed. "They're gonna get their flag before us!" Scarlett yelled, and all of the campers started running at once (except Fabrizio, who was still distracting the monster).

Thirteen campers all raced past the monster to get their flags.

But when they got past the monster, they found there was only one flag. It was partially blue and partially red.

"Chris McLame!" Emily screamed at the top of her lungs. "You said there would be a flag for each team!"

Chris's voice shouted back from all the way at the other end of the field, "I lied!"

The campers all glared at each as they gathered around the flag.

"Our team distracted the alien, so our team should get the flag," Jaime said, stepping forward.

"That's not how it works," Ruby replied, but Hanzo stepped forward before she could. He reached for a silver handle in his utility belt beside the laser gun and pulled it out. He pressed a button on the side, and a blue light blade activated.

The contestants all gasped in surprise. Ruby clapped her hands in excitement. "Good idea, Hanzo! We'll have a duel to see who gets to take the flag!"

Scowling, Jamie drew her light saber, too. It was red, to match her space suit. "This is stupid. But if that's how you wanna play it, fine. I warn you, though: I've seen the Star Wars movies like a hundred times each."

Hanzo seemed unfazed. He leveled his sword at her, and she crossed it. Then, as if on some invisible signal, the two started the duel by simultaneously lashing out at each other. Their sabers met, creating a shower of sparks. Hanzo feinted left and then swung right, but Jamie was expecting this sleight, and met his blow easily. She retaliated with a flurry of blows in rapid succession that Hanzo was forced to defend himself from rather than taking the offensive. Jamie was strong enough to force him back several steps, and it looked like Jamie had the upper hand.

Then Hanzo turned the battle around by drawing backwards, and performing a somersault jump to get onto Jamie's other side. Jamie whirled around quickly to protect her exposed back, but she was a second late, and Hanzo's saber burned her hand. She shouted in pain, and was forced to switch her light saber to her other hand. With an advantage like that, Hanzo made relatively short work of the battle. He imitated Jamie's earlier strategy, letting one blow after another rain down on her. She was forced down onto one knee by the onslaught, and while she was weak Hanzo knocked her sword to the side. His own weapon hovered at her throat.

"Alright," Jamie said, a bead of sweat running down the side of her face. "You guys get the flag. If you can keep it away from us!"

Ruby darted forward and grabbed the flag, leading a huge string of campers yelling and running toward the finish line where Chris was waiting. Members of the Martians body checked members of the Comets and members of the Comets jumped on the backs of the Martians. Everyone was shouting and laughing, playing roughly, knowing that the Comets had already won the challenge. Ruby was so fast no one could catch up to her, not even Hanzo.

"The winners of this challenge are the Colossal Comets!" Chris announced as Ruby crossed the finish line. Both teams joined her at the finish line, all out of breath but no one feeling in a bad mood, even though the Martians had to vote someone out later.

Hanzo approached Jamie, silent as always, and offered her a hand to shake.

"No hard feelings, mate," she said, shaking his hand firmly.

The campers loaded back onto the space ship SMS Wawankwa and flew back into space.

* * *

Author's Note: Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Leave a review saying who the Martians should vote out! The sooner you review, the sooner the next chapter will be posted! All of the confession cam reviews you guys left will be posted in the next chapter.


	8. The Second Elimination

Leo: "I still can't believe I'm in the opposite team as Lolo and Scott... I mean, not that I don't like them or anything, Scott's pretty cool I guess, but he is a bit weird. But Lolo's crazy. And really, it was pretty weird being in the middle of their fight. Anyway, as for my team, I don't mind the rest of them. Sure Fabrizo's a bit nuts and Lily and Luna look... weird, at least they're nice. Henry's smart, Scarlett and Jamie are good people, and I really don't want to talk to Jericho about Emma... at least until he's ready. But I just hope Emily doesn't do anything to Scott and Lolo. There's something about her I don't like...

* * *

The contestants are enjoying their spare time between the challenge and the time that the Martians will have to vote off a member. The two teams have decided to mingle together. LoLo and Scott are both trying to prove that they're having more fun than the other, Scott hanging out with Henry, Fabrizio, Leo, Emily and Johnny while LoLo was with Ruby, Lilly, Luna, Jericho, Hanzo and Marty. Jamie and Scarlett join the group with Emily and Johnny.

Jamie gives Fabrizio a friendly slap on the back. "You did an awesome job on the challenge, Fabric! If only the rest of us had been more on our game."

"Or if only we had been less _on_ our game!" Emily said, still excited by their win. "Johnny had an awesome idea, too."

Scott laughed loudly. "Ha ha ha! Yeah, you guys are so funny! Winning today was awesome!" He glanced over at LoLo to see if she was jealous. "I bet Allison's really proud of me back home for winning."

* * *

Jericho: "Man, this sucks! I find a great girl, but just as we get together she gets voted off. I was hoping to not get placed on the same team as Jamie and Scarlett… But as long as they don't bring up Emma's elimination or try to boss me around we'll be good… maybe. At least Lily and Luna are on my team. I need some friends right now."

* * *

Jamie and Scarlett wandered away from the group for a moment to talk. "We need to decide who's going to be eliminated next," Jamie says and Scarlett nods.

"I've been thinking it through. We need to eliminate the weakest players. Obviously we're both good members of the team. Then Jericho, Henry and Leo have all won challenges so far. Fabrizio did a really good job in the challenge today. He's sort of a loony, but he has his own strengths. That leaves one person."

"You're thinking we should vote out Lilly and Luna?" Jamie asks, frowning. "I see where you're coming from… It just sucks. They're both really nice. It's true that other than the twins, we're the only ones who haven't proven ourselves. So it's sort of… us or them. I'm with you." Scarlett nodded, and they pinky swore to bind their alliance.

* * *

Ruby: "Emma, I'm so sorry that I voted you off! I'm gonna miss you! But I didn't want you to get hurt. Oh! and Hanzo saved me! He is so brave and so cool! Oh! And Marty! You were such a jerk! But I forgive you… for now."

* * *

Lilly, Luna and Jericho were the only ones on the Martians in their group so they could talk about it without leaving. The others tried to give them advice.

"I think Jamie's a liability to our team," Jericho said grouchily. "She wasted her time on bad ideas today instead of actually grabbing the flag and winning us the game."

Lilly clucked her tongue, scolding him. "Jericho, you're just angry at Jamie because you feel like it's her fault that Emma went home. Lots of people voted for Emma. Plus, Jamie took a risk and asserted herself as a leader today. That's what a team needs. She's a valuable asset to us."

Jericho sunk down in his seat, dejected. "Alright, fine. We won't vote out Jamie. Who do you think we should vote for, then?"

Lilly chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Fabrizio is a real wild card. I don't know if we can trust him to continue to win games for us. He disappeared for a good chunk of the challenge, which wasn't very helpful. I think we should vote for him. If we can get Henry and Leo to vote with us, we have nothing to worry about."

* * *

Scarlett: "Well, can't say I'm shocked Emma got eliminated. She'd probably hurt herself if she went around doing Chris's challenges. I don't completely mind my team as a whole. Jamie rocks, I mean, she sacrificed herself for me. No one's ever done that before! But I'm unsure of everyone else. Though I have to admit Leo came out on top in the last challenge and I have respect for that! But Jericho… well he seems to have a lot of frustration, 'cause Emma got voted off. He seems to be blaming me and Jamie for that. Dude needs to chill and realize it was a majority vote! So me and Jamie weren't the only ones who voted her off."

* * *

Hanzo, Ruby and Marty were up to their usual antics, with LoLo added in for variety. Either LoLo was completely oblivious to what was going on, or she was purposely ignoring the fact that Marty kept trying to get her to leave.

"LoLo, are you still fighting with Scott?" Marty asked. "Shouldn't you just forgive him? I bet he wants to kiss and make up!" He gave LoLo a pointed look. LoLo made a face.

"Scott's old news. He's a big crabby sourpuss. I don't have time for negative people like him in my life. That's why I'm hanging out with you guys! You guys are cool and awesome. Ruby and Hanzo are ninja people, and you've totally been to the future! That's so amazing. Can you tell if they still use cups in the future, or do the beverages just float in the air? That would be so fantastic! Did you meet me in the future? That would be so weird and random, if you met some stranger in the future and then they showed up in your life, like on Total Drama Island! Wow, I wish that would happen!"

"LoLo, I don't want to talk about the future!" Marty said snappily.

"Oh, that's too bad," Ruby said, looking up at Marty's outburst. "I'd love to hear what it's like. Do people still use cups?"

"No, people don't use cups anymore in the future!" Marty scrambled to answer. "They drink out of tubes with straws in them. "It's really cool! Maybe when Total Drama's over, I could borrow the time machine and show you!"

"Wow, that would be so awesome!" LoLo shouted, to Marty's frustration.

* * *

Johnny: "I like my team! And one other thing: the team name. The colossal comets! This is the greatest thing in my life! Wicked names!"

* * *

Johnny was sitting with Fabrizio and Henry. "You're lucky you don't have to vote, Johnny. I have no idea who should go home. It feels like I shouldn't be allowed to make that kind of decision! I have to make the judgment that one of my team-mates doesn't deserve a million dollars. And I don't even know why they want the money. What if they're competing to get their Aunt a really expensive surgery so she can see her children for one last time before she finally perishes from a chronic illness, and when I vote someone out I'm saying no to her dying wish to just see her loved ones one last time!"

"Wow, slow down Henry!" Johnny said. Henry wheezed for breath. "That was one of the longest sentences I've ever heard. You're super melodramatic."

"I'm voting for Gary," Fabrizio said. "You can, too, Henry. He has no family. He wants the money just so that I won't get it. He says that he was born to ruin my life. I hate Gary so much it makes me feel like my ears are bleeding."

"Oh, how nice," Henry said, terrified.

* * *

Emily: "Stupid Chris McLame and his stupid lies! Ugh...anyways, I'm not that disappointed. I mean, we won! And I'm actually proud that Johnny had that idea about distracting the monster. Too bad it failed sorta… at least I got a smart thinker in my alliance! But I can't wait to see who gets voted off, because usually the other team votes off some of their friends and good players...no offense."

* * *

Lilly, Luna and Jericho crossed the room to where the others were, and asked to speak to Leo and Henry. When they were somewhere out of earshot, Henry narrowed his eyes and asked, "Why didn't you ask Fabrizio to come too?"

Lilly and Luna shuffled their feet awkwardly. "We know your friends with him," Luna began carefully. Lilly barreled through it, figuring ripping the band-aid off all at once was a better strategy. "We think he's a liability to the team, so we want to vote him off."

Leo was silent, but Henry was affronted. "I can't vote Fabric out! Not only was he the best performer on our team today, but he's also one of the only friends I've got in this competition."

Jericho held up his hands. "Whoa, Henry, don't be mad. We've just got to look at things the way they are. There are a lot of strong players on our team, and a lot of us have already won challenges today. Fabrizio is convinced that there's an eighth player on our team! Look, he's arguing with "Gary" right now!" They all turned to look at Fabrizio, who was yelling at the empty space beside him. As they watched, he tried to beat the invisible space up.

Henry shook his head. "Fabrizio isn't a liability. He's my friend!" With that, Henry marched off to sit next to Fabric, who immediately stopped attacking the air and smiled bright as sunshine at Henry.

Lilly, Luna and Jericho all turned to look expectantly. "Eek," Leo said, terrified by the peer pressure. However, it was time to choose a side, and it hadn't been Lilly, Luna and Jericho who had gone out of their way to sit with Leo that morning and tried to make him feel welcome. "I'm with Henry and Fabrizio!" He announced decidedly, and ran off to join his two team-mates.

* * *

Leo: *sigh* Well, today was just bleh. I'd vote off this "Gary" person, but I don't think Fabrizo knows that this "Gary" doesn't exist. I have no idea who to vote for at this point, as I think everyone did something good, aside from Henry, Scarlett and I being grabbed by that monster. The twins and Jericho did well keeping it at bay and Jamie had great ideas. But the duel between Jamie and Hanzo, while awesome, didn't go our favor. Jamie seems like a likely target, but I don't know. *sigh* This would be so much easier if Scott and Lolo were on my team... that way I know who I wouldn't vote for.

* * *

LoLo got bored of being the fourth angle on an already awkward love triangle and wandered over to the other group. She took the seat beside her ex best friend on TDS with her nose in the air. From his seat, Leo saw that it was a situation that gravely required supervision. He hurried over to sit across for them, watching with worry as a tense silence fell between them.

"Good evening, Scottimus, old chap," LoLo said coldly, not looking at Scott.

"Good evening, LoLowald," Scott replied coolly, "how do you do?"

"Quite well, thank you. And how do _you_ do?" LoLo replied.

"I am well indeed… except for a small, trifling matter…"

"Oh, do tell, Scottimus. I may be able to aid you in some manner."

"Well," Scott began hesitantly. "No one here is as cool as you, LoLowald, they're boring."

"Oh Scottimus!" LoLo cried, clasping her hands to her bosom, "embrace me, you dunce!"

LoLo and Scott hugged. Then they promised never to fight again and sealed the oath with a pinky promise. Leo groaned at their stupidity and went back to his more sane friends. One of whom was back to arguing with his invisible friend. Leo's life was a mess.

* * *

Jamie: "I can't believe we lost again! Man, I really need to start stepping it up! And, to top it off, the burn on my hand is seriously gonna hurt in the morning. Ah, suck it up, Jamie! Two-Face didn't cry when half his face got burnt off! Anyway, I'm gonna get that wanka, Chris, for these insane challenges! Scarlet could've gotten killed by that plant thing! Then I'd have nobody to relate with!"

* * *

Jamie and Scarlett had decided to use the same strategy Lilly, Luna and Jericho had: recruit Henry and Leo to their cause. They were planning to include Fabrizio though, even though they suspected he would be wasting his vote on someone who didn't exist again.

Jamie came to join them, taking a seat. "Hey, mates, what's happening?"

Leo and Henry both shrugged, but Fabrizio had a story to tell. "Jamie! I've been waiting for a chance to talk to you. You know today when you were dueling Hanzo with you lightsaber? You lost because of Gary! I know you did! I saw him stick out his foot to trip you! Guys, this is really serious. Gary is sabotaging our team. We really need to vote him out tonight, or else he might cause us to lose again tomorrow."

For a moment, everyone paused to process that theory. Then Scarlett cleared her throat and set out her and Jamie's proposal: "While Gary is a threat, Jamez and I were thinking of voting in a different way. We were thinking, 'who's the weakest link?' Well, Henry, Jericho and Leo have all won challenges. Fabrizio was a beast today during the challenge, so he's safe. That leaves me, Jamie and Lilly and Luna who haven't proven ourselves today. But Jamie stepped up to the plate by dueling with Hanzo even though he's clearly been trained to use a sword, and I think the fact that I came second in the destroy-the-world challenge proves that I'm a good competitor. That only leaves Lilly and Luna, so by process of elimination, we've come to agree on the person we're voting for.

* * *

Ruby: "We won! Just what our team needed. The whole team worked hard together: Hanzo and that epic light saber battle against Jamie, and Johnny did come up with a good idea. And who would have guessed that Scott played lacrosse. That Fabrizio guy is a wild card."

* * *

Henry and Leo exchanged a look. "Captain Jamie, I think you're right," Fabrizio said, to everyone's surprise. "You fought against the ninja, and you didn't win, but it made you stronger. I can see the spirit animal inside of you: once it was a small bird, but now it's a huge eagle soaring across the world, dropping words of truth and wisdom upon the starving creatures below. I will vote Lilly and Luna off if you wish it of me." Fabrizio bowed to the ground in front of Jamie, whispering, "Namaste, Namaste, Namaste."

Henry frowned and chewed his lip, but he made his decision. "Lilly and Luna tried to get me to vote out Fabric. He's my friend! I'm not going to turn against him. So I'll side with you guys. Hopefully we win the next competition though. I don't want to see any more of us going home. Something tells me their ninjas going to be tough to beat though.

* * *

Fabric: "Gary, I told you already. Even though I'm gay, I'm not a girl. And I don't like you, I like Henry! So leave me alone, you horse's patoot! I vote off Gar. Again. Boy, don't give me that look, you deserve it! Distracting me, we could've won earlier and everything… if you didn't get in the way of Captain Jamie!"

* * *

Fabrizio completely forgot his promise to vote for Lilly and Luna and voted for Gary again. Henry sided with Jamie and Scarlett, making three votes for the twins. Lilly and Luna voted for Fabrizio, hoping Henry or Leo would change their minds. Jericho also voted for Fabrizio. Leo was the deciding vote, and in the end he voted for the twins. He simply couldn't send Fabrizio home when he had been the hero of the day in the challenge… and a friend to Leo, too.

* * *

Scarlett: "Okay, sure that challenge was mildly terrifying… but at the same time that was awesome! It reminded me of every single mosh pit I've ever been in! Bummed we didn't win in the end but at least we seem to be functioning better as a team...By the way, who's Gary?"


End file.
